Category: Buddhism

Art, Buddhism, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

“Everyone thinks they’re an artist.”

Fernando Kaskais

Ceramics Zen and the true purpose of Zen in the Arts (and the Arts in Zen) By Reverend Cristina Moon One of the first arts I trained in as part of living at Chozen-ji was ceramics. One weekend morning in 2018, I made my way back to the ceramics studio. There, I found several Dojo members puttering around and happy to show me the basics.  It would take months, if not years, to learn to tame a ball of clay on the potter’s wheel. It has taken me longer still to tease out how to approach elevating ceramics from more than making pretty … Continue reading “Everyone thinks they’re an artist.”

Buddhism, Living, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

The Path of Patience

Fernando Kaskais

How life’s little annoyances can teach us ever-greater tolerance. By Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche The 8th-century Indian Buddhist sage Shantideva dedicated a chapter of his work The Way of the Bodhisattva to the subject of patience. In the new book Peaceful Heart: The Buddhist Practice of Patience, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche follows the 134 verses from the Patience Chapter and explains how they apply to our busy lives today. In this excerpt, he discusses verses 15 through 18, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. 15And do I not already bear with thecommon irritations—Bites and stings of snakes and flies,Experiences of hunger and … Continue reading The Path of Patience

Buddhism, Living, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Being Content with What We Have

Fernando Kaskais

The next thing you buy won’t make you happy, but a different attitude may. By Koshin Paley Ellison Working with dying people, I see many houses. After people die, their houses are left behind, often filled to the brim with things that they clearly felt they needed to have, like dozens of statues of lions, thousands of books, many cans of creamed corn, and so on. I’m not talking about hoarders, either—just folks. Humans are like magpies in that way, collecting shiny objects and other things that attract them. Seeing, wanting, grabbing—it seems to be innate. Something we can work with. I have … Continue reading Being Content with What We Have

Buddhism, Esoteric, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

You Can Get There From Here

Fernando Kaskais

Defilements as a path to awakening By Mark Herrick There is an old expression that says “you can’t get there from here,” meaning you can’t get somewhere if you don’t know where you’re starting from. You need to know two things to go anywhere: where you are now and where you are going. Nichiren taught that our defilements lead to awakening. This idea was so central to his ministry that it frames the daimoku, the title of the Lotus Sutra, Namu Myohorengekyo—on every mandala he ever inscribed. The defilements (Sanskrit: kleshas) are mental states that disturb the mind and give rise to unwholesome actions. They arise from the … Continue reading You Can Get There From Here

Buddhism, Japan, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

The Zen of Cold

Fernando Kaskais

Beth O’Halloran tells Leath Tonino her practice was honed by long sits in chilly spaces. By Leath Tonino  Many people consider winter to be a grin-and-bear-it season, the clammy feet and numb fingertips an unwelcome challenge, maybe even cause for depression. But what if we could recast the harsh, dark months as an opportunity for attentiveness, a gateway to clarity and fleeting beauty? How does place influence practice? How does climate interact with meditation? The Zen of cold—is that a thing?  In December, I took a break from writing a long personal essay about working in Antarctica (I’m a chionophile, a … Continue reading The Zen of Cold

Buddhism, Living, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

We Can’t Always Get What We Want (And That’s All Right)

Fernando Kaskais

Accepting the inevitability of loss is essential to happiness By Vanessa Zuisei Goddard  The reason that we suffer is simple: to paraphrase the Rolling Stones song, “we can’t always get what we want.” And in not getting what we want, we create conflict for ourselves and others. It may seem simplistic to reduce all our suffering to our unmet wants, but if we take the time to look closely at our situation, it becomes evident that the Buddha’s teaching on the source of our distress is exactly right. We suffer because we have something we don’t want, we want something we don’t … Continue reading We Can’t Always Get What We Want (And That’s All Right)

Buddhism, Living, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Awakening with a Rude Driver

Fernando Kaskais

A meditation teacher on countering reactive responses on the road By Lisa Ernst  On a recent Saturday morning, shortly after I began teaching meditation, I was on my way to teach a daylong retreat outside of Nashville. While driving on Granny White Pike, a busy two-lane street, I signaled and merged into the turn lane. Just as I did, someone in a white car sped up and honked at me multiple times. The blasts startled me. I was driving at least the speed limit, I signaled and moved into the turn lane correctly, and, to my knowledge, I did everything completely … Continue reading Awakening with a Rude Driver

Buddhism, Music, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

The Dharma of Popular Music

Fernando Kaskais

An exercise for mindful listening, because even where you least expect it, music can present opportunities for reflection. By Bradley Donaldson  In 2019, I spent a breezy summer afternoon lying on the grass of a local park, nodding my head to Lana Del Rey’s just-released album. That day would turn out to be emblematic of much of my summer: wistful and pensive, yet hopeful. My most recent romantic relationship had unraveled, and the album was a soothing balm; I listened to it on repeat, daily. The fourteen-track record turned out to be Del Rey’s most critically acclaimed album to date, a … Continue reading The Dharma of Popular Music

Buddhism, Health, Living, Philosophy, Psychology1 Comment

Lovingkindness for Control Freaks

Fernando Kaskais

A practice for letting go of our illusion of control and relaxing into the present moment
 By Kimberly Brown  Over a decade ago, when I was a relatively new meditation teacher, a friend told me about a Tibetan Rinpoche who instructed his students to practice “extreme” letting go. He told them to stop whatever they were doing, let their limbs and muscles go limp, and literally fall down wherever they happened to be so they could “taste” the experience of releasing their clinging mind-states. He suggested doing this practice several times a day, and so they would crash to the floor or … Continue reading Lovingkindness for Control Freaks

Brain, Buddhism, Health, ScienceLeave a comment

Can we stop time in the body?

Fernando Kaskais

Inside the “out there” quest for a drug that would help doctors save lives before it’s too late. By Elena Kazamia The ceremony takes place on the night of the full moon in February, which the Tibetans celebrate as the coldest of the year. Buddhist monks clad in light cotton shawls climb to a rocky ledge some 15,000 feet high and go to sleep, in child’s pose, foreheads pressed against cold Himalayan rocks. In the dead of the night, temperatures plummet below freezing but the monks sleep on peacefully, without shivering. Footage of the ritual exists from the winter of 1985 … Continue reading Can we stop time in the body?