 The Highest Aspiration
It’s one thing to practice to get some relief from anxiety, to calm the mind–all of which is certainly legitimate–but it’s practicing Zen on a very superficial level. From the Zen Buddhist point of view this is a very low aspiration. The highest aspiration is the desire for awakening. – Philip Kapleau Roshi, “Life with a Capital ‘L'” Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for June 08, 2019
 Liberation Through Suffering
Liberation Through Suffering – Willoughby Britton, ” Meditation Nation “ Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for June 05, 2019
 Zen is really just a reminder to stay alive and to be awake.
We tend to daydream all the time, speculating about the future and dwelling on the past. Zen practice is about appreciating your life in this moment. If you are truly aware of five minutes a day, then you are doing pretty well. We are beset by both the future and the past, and there is no reality apart from the here and now. – Peter Matthiessen Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for June 03, 2019
 Building Faith, Building Commitment
For Buddhism, faith doesn’t mean the blind acceptance of teachings as unquestionable dogmas. Rather, faith suggests a combination of trust in the Buddha as a fully enlightened teacher, confidence in the Buddha and in his guidance, and feelings of devotion and reverence towards the Buddha. This quality of faith is to be strengthened because it’s what builds our own commitment to the entire practice. – Bhikkhu Bodhi, “Recollection of the Buddha” (Tricycle Online Retreat, June 2012) Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for May 18, 2019
 Study Deepens Faith
Faith is a quality that grows as you question, explore, and really put teachings into practice. The more you study, the less dogmatic you get. – Sharon Salzberg, “Then & Now “ Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for May 16, 2019
 Taking Control of Habit
Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest enemy, habit, against itself. – Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, “Tortoise Steps “ Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for May 04, 2019
 Spiritual practice is a bit like riding a bicycle.
Once you have learnt how to cycle there is no need to go over the theory behind how the gears work or the best height for your saddle every time you go for a ride. All you have to do is get on your bike and start pedalling. And the key to this practice is to do the best you can and don’t worry too much about whether what you are doing is right or wrong; eventually you will get the hang of it. – Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche Click here to learn how you can receive a 30 minute Mindfulness Break in your home. |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for April 21, 2019
 Meditation Needs Context
The practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation does not take place in a vacuum. It happens within a certain context and point of view. In the Buddhist tradition, meditation is often presented in the context of view, meditation, and action. Each of these three is essential, as a system of checks and balances. If we do not understand the view, the practice of meditation can be more of a trap than means of freeing ourselves from deception. Rather than loosening our ego-clinging, it could further perpetuate our ignorance and grasping. Rather than connecting us to our world, it could draw us away from it. Meditation in and of itself is no magical cure-all. Proper understanding and proper motivation are important. The view informs the practice. – Judy Lief, “Is Meditation Enough?” |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for April 17, 2019
 Awakening to Ourselves
Buddhism is really about awakening from the illusion about ourselves and the world, and realizing reality–who we are and what is real and how things are interconnected through karma and causation and so on. In a Dzogchen text it says, “From the beginning we are all Buddhas by nature, we only have to realize that fact.” So in Dzogchen the whole practice of what we call the view, meditation, and action is about awakening to–not just our momentary personality–“self” with a small s–but our true Buddha nature, our original nature. – Lama Surya Das, “Old Wine, New Bottles” |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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Mini Mindfulness Break for April 16, 2019
 Radical Regeneration
Buddhist practice and the work of nonviolence can never be separated. They are fused together with spiritual insight and dedicated action and enlivened by a continuous alchemy for regeneration. – Wendy Johnson, “An Alchemy for Regeneration” |
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May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering! All my best,
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