136 - Grief in Buddhism 2: Some Buddhist Practices Helpful for Facing and Integrating Grief
Grief is love in the face of loss; do you want to stop loving in order to stop feeling grief? Of course not. But we also don't want to be controlled or overwhelmed by it. There are a number of Buddhis...
21 Touko 202029min
Mini Episode - A Four "S" Approach to Shikantaza: Sit Upright, Still, Silent, Simply Be
Shikantaza, or the practice of "just sitting," can be challenging. We're asked not to try to control our meditative experience, but are we just supposed to sit there like a sack of potatoes and let ha...
16 Touko 202010min
135 - Grief in Buddhism 1: Buddhist Teachings on Grief and the Danger of Spiritual Bypassing
Grief in Buddhism: What are the teachings about it, and how are we supposed to practice with it? It's often easy to suppress or bypass our grief, leaving us stuck in one of the early stages of grief (...
11 Touko 202025min
134 - Lotus Sutra 1: What Is Devotion, and How Does It Fulfill the Buddha Way?
The Lotus Sutra is one of the oldest and most central sutras in Mahayana Buddhism. The sutra states repeatedly that people who perform small acts of devotion, such as making an offering at memorial to...
30 Huhti 202030min
133 - Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi's Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Part 2
I continue in a second episode with my reflections on Chan master Hongzhi's "Guidepost of Silent Illumination. I discuss the interdependence of absolute and relative and why that matters in real life;...
22 Huhti 202036min
132 - Restoring Wonder: Hongzhi's Guidepost of Silent Illumination - Part 1
In this episode and the next, I riff off of 12th-century Chan master Hongzhi's short text, "Guidepost of Silent Illumination," one of the most positive and encouraging Zen teachings a know. By "riff" ...
8 Huhti 202034min
131 – Facing Impermanence? Fortunately, Buddhism Is All About Life and Death
Buddhism's central point is nothing other than impermanence, or the "Great Matter of Life-and-Death." Our practice goes far beyond platitudes or beliefs meant to make you feel better about the whole a...
26 Maalis 202027min
130 – A Buddhist Approach to Practicing with Fear
Fear is a natural response that helps us protect ourselves and our loved ones, but it can also be inappropriate and debilitating. Buddhist practice offers many ways to help us manage our fear. We star...
16 Maalis 202029min
