Month: September 2019

Is That So? The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life. A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived …

Mumonkan, Mu Mun Kwan, Wu Men Kuan, Wu-men kuan, Wu-men-kuan, Wumenguan (Gateless Gate, Gate of Gatelessness) represents a collection of 48 koans, compiled and provided with commentaries and verses …

Latin for I, ego seems to be a most confusing word, used by different people in very different senses. These senses range from an idea of the self which belongs …

The three marks of existence (Pāḷi: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: trilakṣaṇa) or three seals are a major cornerstone of the Buddha’s teachings. In Buddhism, they represent the Buddha’s enlightened understanding of …

One day, my master Kodo Sawaki confided in me, “Why did zen impress me so much? It wasn’t reading the Shobogenzo, or the words of the masters or any …

Zazen is a Japanese term. “Za” literally means to sit or sitting; “zen” means to meditate or concentrate. Zazen literally means sitting meditation. Shikantaza is a Japanese translation of a …

Wabi-Sabi’s roots lie in Zen Buddhism, which was brought from China to Japan by Eisai, a twelfth-century monk. Zen stresses austerity, communion with nature, and above all, reverence for …

The Tripitaka is a collection of holy writings organized into three collections or baskets to include the rules for monastics (The Vinaya), the actual teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni (The …

Ritual traditions have changed over historical time and differ from sect to sect and from region to region throughout East Asia. Descriptions of Zen ritual are, therefore, either specific …

For thousands of years, mystics, meditators, and yogis have used mantras for mental and spiritual transformation. A mantra is a sequence of words, syllables, phrases, or sounds, that are …