Buddhism in daily life - Mindfulness in every day tasks Archiv
364 Episoden
6 Minuten
Time
Time passed in the monastery, and everyday life became a sequence of habits. My master reminded me that it was my habits that would define my outward appearance, which of course would provide insight into my "true" person.
Getting up, getting dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, exercising, eating, washing, spirituality, undressing, sleeping. Get up, get dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, day trip, eating, back to the monastery, undressing, sleeping, Get up, get dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, training, eating, washing, spirituality, undressing, sleeping.
The habits were simple, it was a very meditative life, with no real goals, the path was the goal! Today it is completely different, too many habits spoil the character!
Weeks turned into months, always on the days off we were in the provincial capital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, which is considered by most Chinese to be the region of origin of Chinese culture and nation; Lao Tzu, for example, comes from there. There we usually ate delicious food, I was also able to get hold of European provisions (quite exhausting at that time), finally reached my parents by phone (in a time without cell phones).
We got used to more ambitious destinations for our days off, no longer just the big city, but nature and temples, history and spirituality. For example, we were in Kaifeng, one of the ancient capitals in the history of China, we visited other temples, met different monks and friends.
I was not aware of the time, already too long I was here, more than half a year, it was getting cold in the mountains. Without heating I had never spent a single day, what consequences of this one can not imagine, what tracks to follow, what concessions it requires, such a life, in Europe we like it just cozy warm. The sanitary conditions were thus very limited, who likes to take off all clothes in the cold. Mainly we washed at the stream, the toilets were full of tourists, dirty and without privacy, there was the nature better.
I had followed a myth here to China, the details were not important, but with time I began to miss the HOUSING from the affluent society. My desires began to bother me again, the ego demanded changes in habits, variety, partying and diversion.
I persuaded my master Yan Zi to rent a small hotel room in the small town of Deng Feng. Finally a shower of our own, even if there was rarely hot water, mixed in a vat with hot tea water but still feasible. Here there were also better restaurants, we had always eaten only in the temple or in the stalls around. Unfortunately, I have from this time only a few photos, too many moves, too much ballast, because the way is the goal!
Were the fruits bigger at that time?
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Please rate us on Apple, Google or Spotify podcast to help us promote the show
Time passed in the monastery, and everyday life became a sequence of habits. My master reminded me that it was my habits that would define my outward appearance, which of course would provide insight into my "true" person.
Getting up, getting dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, exercising, eating, washing, spirituality, undressing, sleeping. Get up, get dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, day trip, eating, back to the monastery, undressing, sleeping, Get up, get dressed, spirituality, washing, eating, training, eating, washing, spirituality, undressing, sleeping.
The habits were simple, it was a very meditative life, with no real goals, the path was the goal! Today it is completely different, too many habits spoil the character!
Weeks turned into months, always on the days off we were in the provincial capital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, which is considered by most Chinese to be the region of origin of Chinese culture and nation; Lao Tzu, for example, comes from there. There we usually ate delicious food, I was also able to get hold of European provisions (quite exhausting at that time), finally reached my parents by phone (in a time without cell phones).
We got used to more ambitious destinations for our days off, no longer just the big city, but nature and temples, history and spirituality. For example, we were in Kaifeng, one of the ancient capitals in the history of China, we visited other temples, met different monks and friends.
I was not aware of the time, already too long I was here, more than half a year, it was getting cold in the mountains. Without heating I had never spent a single day, what consequences of this one can not imagine, what tracks to follow, what concessions it requires, such a life, in Europe we like it just cozy warm. The sanitary conditions were thus very limited, who likes to take off all clothes in the cold. Mainly we washed at the stream, the toilets were full of tourists, dirty and without privacy, there was the nature better.
I had followed a myth here to China, the details were not important, but with time I began to miss the HOUSING from the affluent society. My desires began to bother me again, the ego demanded changes in habits, variety, partying and diversion.
I persuaded my master Yan Zi to rent a small hotel room in the small town of Deng Feng. Finally a shower of our own, even if there was rarely hot water, mixed in a vat with hot tea water but still feasible. Here there were also better restaurants, we had always eaten only in the temple or in the stalls around. Unfortunately, I have from this time only a few photos, too many moves, too much ballast, because the way is the goal!
Were the fruits bigger at that time?
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Please rate us on Apple, Google or Spotify podcast to help us promote the show
6 Minuten
Habits and Attachments
Somehow habits and attachments are connected, they also occur together.
Habits are very useful to us humans because the things we do out of habit are no longer a "burden" on the brain. Habits we have developed over years and decades, we have set up certain behavioral patterns, which we repeat in suitable moments, so we can direct our "thoughts" to other issues, keeping the capacity free for new issues that are important NOW (or we think they are important).
If we would think all the time about every step and every hand movement, then there would be no (or only little) capacity for current decisions, we could hardly devote ourselves to new things, not improve, not develop further.
On the other hand, habits are sometimes detrimental, as spontaneity and the love of life are often curbed. But there is a middle way, between routine and freedom of choice. Buddha urged to re-evaluate again and again, but precisely not to carve a judgment in rock, not to cultivate preconceived judgments (prejudices).
He who cannot maintain a healthy balance between his habits and his freedom of choice will forever chase after money, health, love, security, the everyday things of life.
But those who also bring peace and tranquility into their lives with sensible habits will be able to continue to develop.
The prerequisite, however, is to also think about the habits, to really deal with these habitual actions, to get to the bottom of them. Why do I do this (or that) so and so, why not differently? Are there other possibilities? Can I (perhaps) improve myself?
With attachments it is similar, once we attach to something (or someone), then this quickly becomes (also) a habit. For example, we live in partnerships, and although we know that a partnership has failed, we continue to live as if nothing had happened. We have developed a habit through the original love (attachment). No matter how much we want to escape from the partnership, a habit has been formed that we do not want to "miss", no matter how complicated the situation may be.
Attachments and habits are incredibly similar, the line between the two emotions is fluid, which is why Buddha would not leave habits without attention, he instructed his followers to look behind the scenes.
So: Why do we do this (or that) this way or that way, and not differently?
Think about it. The way is as always the goal!
If views have become a habit, they can become shackles.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Please rate us on Apple, Google or Spotify podcast to help us promote the show
Somehow habits and attachments are connected, they also occur together.
Habits are very useful to us humans because the things we do out of habit are no longer a "burden" on the brain. Habits we have developed over years and decades, we have set up certain behavioral patterns, which we repeat in suitable moments, so we can direct our "thoughts" to other issues, keeping the capacity free for new issues that are important NOW (or we think they are important).
If we would think all the time about every step and every hand movement, then there would be no (or only little) capacity for current decisions, we could hardly devote ourselves to new things, not improve, not develop further.
On the other hand, habits are sometimes detrimental, as spontaneity and the love of life are often curbed. But there is a middle way, between routine and freedom of choice. Buddha urged to re-evaluate again and again, but precisely not to carve a judgment in rock, not to cultivate preconceived judgments (prejudices).
He who cannot maintain a healthy balance between his habits and his freedom of choice will forever chase after money, health, love, security, the everyday things of life.
But those who also bring peace and tranquility into their lives with sensible habits will be able to continue to develop.
The prerequisite, however, is to also think about the habits, to really deal with these habitual actions, to get to the bottom of them. Why do I do this (or that) so and so, why not differently? Are there other possibilities? Can I (perhaps) improve myself?
With attachments it is similar, once we attach to something (or someone), then this quickly becomes (also) a habit. For example, we live in partnerships, and although we know that a partnership has failed, we continue to live as if nothing had happened. We have developed a habit through the original love (attachment). No matter how much we want to escape from the partnership, a habit has been formed that we do not want to "miss", no matter how complicated the situation may be.
Attachments and habits are incredibly similar, the line between the two emotions is fluid, which is why Buddha would not leave habits without attention, he instructed his followers to look behind the scenes.
So: Why do we do this (or that) this way or that way, and not differently?
Think about it. The way is as always the goal!
If views have become a habit, they can become shackles.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Please rate us on Apple, Google or Spotify podcast to help us promote the show
6 Minuten
What is Chan? Part 6
You are searching, otherwise you would not read my texts here, you might read about soccer, or about fashion, but not at all about Chan (Zen) Buddhism.
The problem with spirituality in Europe is that religions have done so much incredible damage, which is why "faith" moves people less and less.
A worldview today even seems to contradict the Enlightenment, science has already explained everything, what else is there to come?
To be spiritual does not necessarily mean to become religious, because especially the teaching of Buddha is not characterized by a relationship of superiority and subordination, Buddha did not want to be worshipped.
Chan (Zen) Buddhism is the manifestation of the Buddhist teaching that we know today as Buddhism, which is based on the essence of the Buddha's worldview (the "enlightenment"), was conceived by the founder of Chan (Bodhidharma). What makes the matter problematic is the fact that little was written down during the lifetimes of the two great teachers, but the Chan continued to develop over the centuries. And not always in a direction that I would like.
Chan offers us a way to connect with the Buddha-nature, to experience what is the consequence of the essence of the teaching of the teacher of all teachers. Those who go through life mindfully become more and more connected to the environment, to the people on life's path, to all living beings.
No matter how many books on Buddhism (and specifically on Chan) you may read, there is not, there must not be, a single explanation. Go directly to the source, look for the wisdom immanent in the Buddha's teaching, follow in the footsteps of the Indian prince, gather what you think makes sense.
Chan clashes with the various ancestral ways of thinking of the Central Europeans, but the feelings pull the seekers in the direction of awakening.
Bodhidharma said that Chan cannot be explained with words, which is why I have strung together many words here over six episodes to show you what Chan can be all about, but the very attempt fails. Chan is and remains the spiritual practice of seekers, of people who think about it, who want to explore the potential that lies within.
Because to follow only the sufferings, that seems as no practicable path, at least not for me.
The way is the goal!
I eat only once a day. By living this way, I do not get sick, and I enjoy great strength and lightness.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
You are searching, otherwise you would not read my texts here, you might read about soccer, or about fashion, but not at all about Chan (Zen) Buddhism.
The problem with spirituality in Europe is that religions have done so much incredible damage, which is why "faith" moves people less and less.
A worldview today even seems to contradict the Enlightenment, science has already explained everything, what else is there to come?
To be spiritual does not necessarily mean to become religious, because especially the teaching of Buddha is not characterized by a relationship of superiority and subordination, Buddha did not want to be worshipped.
Chan (Zen) Buddhism is the manifestation of the Buddhist teaching that we know today as Buddhism, which is based on the essence of the Buddha's worldview (the "enlightenment"), was conceived by the founder of Chan (Bodhidharma). What makes the matter problematic is the fact that little was written down during the lifetimes of the two great teachers, but the Chan continued to develop over the centuries. And not always in a direction that I would like.
Chan offers us a way to connect with the Buddha-nature, to experience what is the consequence of the essence of the teaching of the teacher of all teachers. Those who go through life mindfully become more and more connected to the environment, to the people on life's path, to all living beings.
No matter how many books on Buddhism (and specifically on Chan) you may read, there is not, there must not be, a single explanation. Go directly to the source, look for the wisdom immanent in the Buddha's teaching, follow in the footsteps of the Indian prince, gather what you think makes sense.
Chan clashes with the various ancestral ways of thinking of the Central Europeans, but the feelings pull the seekers in the direction of awakening.
Bodhidharma said that Chan cannot be explained with words, which is why I have strung together many words here over six episodes to show you what Chan can be all about, but the very attempt fails. Chan is and remains the spiritual practice of seekers, of people who think about it, who want to explore the potential that lies within.
Because to follow only the sufferings, that seems as no practicable path, at least not for me.
The way is the goal!
I eat only once a day. By living this way, I do not get sick, and I enjoy great strength and lightness.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
What is Chan? Part 5
In the last few days we have been exploring the question of what Chan-(Zen) actually is. A generally valid answer could not be found.
The question remains, what is Chan at all? A spiritual worldview, a philosophy, a practice, a teaching, or a concept? And no matter what it is, can it be described, divided into the various categories that people have come up with?
Already a definition of Chan-(Zen) is incredibly difficult, because it is just for every Chan-Buddhist something different, partly completely different views collide. The development of Chan over the centuries has been anything but straight, there is no direct line from the founding of Chan in Shaolin Temple China by Bodhidharma to the present day, too many masters have been at the soup, too many countries have had their influence on rites, language and customs.
To define something has also clear disadvantages. The explanation found in such a way once settles in humans, gives thereby a direction, which does not become fair the thing, also cannot become fair. In my eyes Chan is first of all a possibility to minimize the fears and hardships of the people, in good cases even to dissolve them, because only this spiritual world view wants to get to the core of the matter, to the transitoriness.
Without promising then a paradise for "the time after", because the paradise would be attainable also already now and immediately, if one would like then. And if one takes the necessary steps, if one dares.
Chan awakens in us, just as once the question "what is Chan?" arose in the first place.
Then we awaken, one fine day everything makes sense, the questions have disappeared, the previously unthinkable possibilities have become standard, the realization of the journey in the footsteps of the Awakened One, the Sublime One, has become easier and easier.
The answers to the question "What is Chan" are infinite, but it becomes clearer and clearer with time that Chan is something very important for us. Just as it has been special to millions and billions of people before us, so it will be something unique to many seekers in the future. We have a choice, indeed we are dealt the cards by karma, but how we play them is our decision.
Whether we will take drugs today, or start a new foreign language, we choose. Although based on the cards we are dealt, we are clearly playing the game. So, what is Chan?
The path is the goal!
There are states of mind that people have still not given up internally
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
In the last few days we have been exploring the question of what Chan-(Zen) actually is. A generally valid answer could not be found.
The question remains, what is Chan at all? A spiritual worldview, a philosophy, a practice, a teaching, or a concept? And no matter what it is, can it be described, divided into the various categories that people have come up with?
Already a definition of Chan-(Zen) is incredibly difficult, because it is just for every Chan-Buddhist something different, partly completely different views collide. The development of Chan over the centuries has been anything but straight, there is no direct line from the founding of Chan in Shaolin Temple China by Bodhidharma to the present day, too many masters have been at the soup, too many countries have had their influence on rites, language and customs.
To define something has also clear disadvantages. The explanation found in such a way once settles in humans, gives thereby a direction, which does not become fair the thing, also cannot become fair. In my eyes Chan is first of all a possibility to minimize the fears and hardships of the people, in good cases even to dissolve them, because only this spiritual world view wants to get to the core of the matter, to the transitoriness.
Without promising then a paradise for "the time after", because the paradise would be attainable also already now and immediately, if one would like then. And if one takes the necessary steps, if one dares.
Chan awakens in us, just as once the question "what is Chan?" arose in the first place.
Then we awaken, one fine day everything makes sense, the questions have disappeared, the previously unthinkable possibilities have become standard, the realization of the journey in the footsteps of the Awakened One, the Sublime One, has become easier and easier.
The answers to the question "What is Chan" are infinite, but it becomes clearer and clearer with time that Chan is something very important for us. Just as it has been special to millions and billions of people before us, so it will be something unique to many seekers in the future. We have a choice, indeed we are dealt the cards by karma, but how we play them is our decision.
Whether we will take drugs today, or start a new foreign language, we choose. Although based on the cards we are dealt, we are clearly playing the game. So, what is Chan?
The path is the goal!
There are states of mind that people have still not given up internally
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is another day, no matter how "bad" the fate seems, even the misfortune is not permanent, it will pass, just as everything will pass.
So why worry so much, why fret, it's not worth it. Everything is subject to change, what appears to be a strong building today can collapse in a few years.
Have you ever seen the buildings in an abandoned city, maybe in pictures? Nature reclaims everything, after only a few years little of the former splendor can be seen, life is a coming and a going.
Just as the philosophy of Buddha tells us, which can be a lifeline for the many people who look confused at things that are so difficult to understand. Do you know the legend of Kisa, who could only be released from her pain by the Exalted One?
Then when you wake up tomorrow, a lot has already changed. Probably you do not notice it then immediately, too much you are arrested in your thoughts, what was, what will be, where will I go? Questions upon questions, to which it is difficult to find answers. At least not if "you" don't like to follow the Buddhist worldview.
Just as with the story of the kisa and the mustard seed, you will not find a household that has been spared from "misfortune." In every home, people have died, or separated.
Which is worse, the parting by death, or that by life? The separated life, far away from the loved ones, the being together with the unloved contemporaries, fears and hardships, worries and sorrows, all constructs in our thought palace.
Because if we make the decision not to suffer anymore, then it will be so. The unhappiness is not lasting at all, what was so important yesterday, is already forgotten today. Other things from the past we carry around with us for years and decades, other things we imagine for the future, we hardly waste a thought on the present.
Yet it is the NOW, the HERE and the TODAY in which we live, man is usually too cowardly to think about the connections, preferring to stick to the old habits, although he knows that even the NOW is an illusion, the past and the future even more so.
Even the misfortune has no continuance, the way remains the goal!
We want to do things in such a way that they are pleasant now and will be accompanied by happiness in the future.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Tomorrow is another day, no matter how "bad" the fate seems, even the misfortune is not permanent, it will pass, just as everything will pass.
So why worry so much, why fret, it's not worth it. Everything is subject to change, what appears to be a strong building today can collapse in a few years.
Have you ever seen the buildings in an abandoned city, maybe in pictures? Nature reclaims everything, after only a few years little of the former splendor can be seen, life is a coming and a going.
Just as the philosophy of Buddha tells us, which can be a lifeline for the many people who look confused at things that are so difficult to understand. Do you know the legend of Kisa, who could only be released from her pain by the Exalted One?
Then when you wake up tomorrow, a lot has already changed. Probably you do not notice it then immediately, too much you are arrested in your thoughts, what was, what will be, where will I go? Questions upon questions, to which it is difficult to find answers. At least not if "you" don't like to follow the Buddhist worldview.
Just as with the story of the kisa and the mustard seed, you will not find a household that has been spared from "misfortune." In every home, people have died, or separated.
Which is worse, the parting by death, or that by life? The separated life, far away from the loved ones, the being together with the unloved contemporaries, fears and hardships, worries and sorrows, all constructs in our thought palace.
Because if we make the decision not to suffer anymore, then it will be so. The unhappiness is not lasting at all, what was so important yesterday, is already forgotten today. Other things from the past we carry around with us for years and decades, other things we imagine for the future, we hardly waste a thought on the present.
Yet it is the NOW, the HERE and the TODAY in which we live, man is usually too cowardly to think about the connections, preferring to stick to the old habits, although he knows that even the NOW is an illusion, the past and the future even more so.
Even the misfortune has no continuance, the way remains the goal!
We want to do things in such a way that they are pleasant now and will be accompanied by happiness in the future.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
7 Minuten
What is Chan? Part 4
So what is Chan (Zen) Buddhism? Is there no simple answer?
NO, there is not, Chan is as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife, has in its peculiarity many meanings, woundings, explanations.
One of them is that Chan is a clever trick, a method to free people from their illusions, thus enabling them to live a balanced life without feeling more the sufferings weighing heavily on the souls. Those who can separate themselves from greed, hatred and delusion through Chan have achieved their personal nirvana, they become happy, mindful and a sentient being. Why can Chan also be a trick? Well, if you follow the philosophy of Chan, then the world will not change, everything will remain as it was, with one exception: you, your personality will change, because you will change your identity, emulate other ideas, you will change as a whole. Your understanding of events, living beings and things will experience a completely new view, because your old filters will be "retired", new filters will be formed, through which you will look at life in a completely new way.
Our personality, the role we play, our behavior, all actions, even the body in its expression, everything is created by the mind, Buddha said, "With our thoughts we create the world!"
Whoever follows the philosophy of Chan will suddenly "need", "want" and "pursue" completely different things than he/she did until then. Because all that we had understood as reality, that has now changed, through the descent into the Chan we have created a new, personal reality for ourselves, which now completely differently determines the feelings, releases other emotions, makes other contacts possible.
Everything that we had built up, that we had put together, that is no longer important for Chan Buddhists (this also applies to the large group of "feel-good Buddhists") in one fell swoop, the trick of the Chan has worked, has made life easier for the followers. But even this newfound reality is an illusion, because we have also created it ourselves, constructed it according to our wishes, because we wanted to follow the Chan, have therefore left the illusions of the conditional world, are on the way to Buddha-nature, the unconditional acceptance of what is, turned away from the desire to somehow "want to have it".
Whether you think Chan (Zen) Buddhism is a trick, or whether you follow spiritual philosophy strictly as a worldview or even a religion, the important thing is that you come into balance, that you no longer lose your footing and/or orientation so quickly, that you deal with yourself and your circumstances more calmly. No human being can force life, in a few minutes everything can be over for each of us, there Chan can make the difference that lets you stop constructing illusions, because fear, greed and egoism are not a basis for a whole lifetime, at some point the penny must drop, right?
What (or who) is Buddha for you? Is it a person, a (former) great teacher, or is he a god for you? Does he stand for you as a symbol for enlightenment, for the awakening that every human being so desperately needs? Or is the great teacher just a voice from long ago that reassures you, that brings you peace and tranquility, that gives you security?
No matter how you see things, if Buddhism helps you get through life, then it is right and important, at least for the moment, and the moment is all that matters.
The path is the goal!
In the next few days, continue reading about the topic "What is Chan?"
What is satisfaction, what is danger, and how can we escape?
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
So what is Chan (Zen) Buddhism? Is there no simple answer?
NO, there is not, Chan is as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife, has in its peculiarity many meanings, woundings, explanations.
One of them is that Chan is a clever trick, a method to free people from their illusions, thus enabling them to live a balanced life without feeling more the sufferings weighing heavily on the souls. Those who can separate themselves from greed, hatred and delusion through Chan have achieved their personal nirvana, they become happy, mindful and a sentient being. Why can Chan also be a trick? Well, if you follow the philosophy of Chan, then the world will not change, everything will remain as it was, with one exception: you, your personality will change, because you will change your identity, emulate other ideas, you will change as a whole. Your understanding of events, living beings and things will experience a completely new view, because your old filters will be "retired", new filters will be formed, through which you will look at life in a completely new way.
Our personality, the role we play, our behavior, all actions, even the body in its expression, everything is created by the mind, Buddha said, "With our thoughts we create the world!"
Whoever follows the philosophy of Chan will suddenly "need", "want" and "pursue" completely different things than he/she did until then. Because all that we had understood as reality, that has now changed, through the descent into the Chan we have created a new, personal reality for ourselves, which now completely differently determines the feelings, releases other emotions, makes other contacts possible.
Everything that we had built up, that we had put together, that is no longer important for Chan Buddhists (this also applies to the large group of "feel-good Buddhists") in one fell swoop, the trick of the Chan has worked, has made life easier for the followers. But even this newfound reality is an illusion, because we have also created it ourselves, constructed it according to our wishes, because we wanted to follow the Chan, have therefore left the illusions of the conditional world, are on the way to Buddha-nature, the unconditional acceptance of what is, turned away from the desire to somehow "want to have it".
Whether you think Chan (Zen) Buddhism is a trick, or whether you follow spiritual philosophy strictly as a worldview or even a religion, the important thing is that you come into balance, that you no longer lose your footing and/or orientation so quickly, that you deal with yourself and your circumstances more calmly. No human being can force life, in a few minutes everything can be over for each of us, there Chan can make the difference that lets you stop constructing illusions, because fear, greed and egoism are not a basis for a whole lifetime, at some point the penny must drop, right?
What (or who) is Buddha for you? Is it a person, a (former) great teacher, or is he a god for you? Does he stand for you as a symbol for enlightenment, for the awakening that every human being so desperately needs? Or is the great teacher just a voice from long ago that reassures you, that brings you peace and tranquility, that gives you security?
No matter how you see things, if Buddhism helps you get through life, then it is right and important, at least for the moment, and the moment is all that matters.
The path is the goal!
In the next few days, continue reading about the topic "What is Chan?"
What is satisfaction, what is danger, and how can we escape?
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
6 Minuten
Quality of life
What do you think, how can we recognize quality of life, and if we have recognized it, can we change it, improve it?
To judge the respective quality of life is possible only for each person himself. It seems impossible to judge it from the outside.
Each person knows very well how this quality is in his own life, can say exactly what is the matter. But hardly anyone has even a rudimentary idea of how this level of life can be changed. All right, I'll tell you.
If you change the way you live, the quality of your life will change.
Let me give you an example: If you start injecting heroin today, then within a year you probably got rid of your job, your apartment and your environment, the new habit has radically changed your life. Your circumstances have gotten worse, your new habit (drugs) has a massive impact on the quality of your being there.
And another example: You start going to night school, subsequently catch up on your high school diploma, then study successfully, get a much better job with incomparably more money. Your circumstances are better, your new habit (studying instead of chilling) has really changed everything.
In the end, it's only habits that have changed, but they had a significant impact. You are (still) the same person, your personal identity will only change over time.
Now, not all changes in your habits have such big effects as the ones above (in my admittedly rather drastic examples).
Let's say you focus on small changes in your life first, such as having chocolate from now on only if you eat an apple first. What would happen then? Not much would have changed at first, you would still get chocolate whenever you want, but you would now consume significantly more vitamins. And on some days you would only eat the apple, you wouldn't get to the chocolate anymore, because you don't have time anymore, something came up, or for other reasons.
Or you might intentionally form different, new habits that will then (one day) make up your new personality. Readers of my blog know that everything is a decision, nothing more, nothing less.
If you make the decision to learn a language, for example, and then subsequently form the habit of doing something for it every day, then in the not too distant future you will also speak this language, experience an expanded identity.
Your quality of life is a question of your personal resolutions, which then turn into habits, which in the end also have effects.
As always, the journey is the destination!
Surpassing the radiant qualities
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
What do you think, how can we recognize quality of life, and if we have recognized it, can we change it, improve it?
To judge the respective quality of life is possible only for each person himself. It seems impossible to judge it from the outside.
Each person knows very well how this quality is in his own life, can say exactly what is the matter. But hardly anyone has even a rudimentary idea of how this level of life can be changed. All right, I'll tell you.
If you change the way you live, the quality of your life will change.
Let me give you an example: If you start injecting heroin today, then within a year you probably got rid of your job, your apartment and your environment, the new habit has radically changed your life. Your circumstances have gotten worse, your new habit (drugs) has a massive impact on the quality of your being there.
And another example: You start going to night school, subsequently catch up on your high school diploma, then study successfully, get a much better job with incomparably more money. Your circumstances are better, your new habit (studying instead of chilling) has really changed everything.
In the end, it's only habits that have changed, but they had a significant impact. You are (still) the same person, your personal identity will only change over time.
Now, not all changes in your habits have such big effects as the ones above (in my admittedly rather drastic examples).
Let's say you focus on small changes in your life first, such as having chocolate from now on only if you eat an apple first. What would happen then? Not much would have changed at first, you would still get chocolate whenever you want, but you would now consume significantly more vitamins. And on some days you would only eat the apple, you wouldn't get to the chocolate anymore, because you don't have time anymore, something came up, or for other reasons.
Or you might intentionally form different, new habits that will then (one day) make up your new personality. Readers of my blog know that everything is a decision, nothing more, nothing less.
If you make the decision to learn a language, for example, and then subsequently form the habit of doing something for it every day, then in the not too distant future you will also speak this language, experience an expanded identity.
Your quality of life is a question of your personal resolutions, which then turn into habits, which in the end also have effects.
As always, the journey is the destination!
Surpassing the radiant qualities
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Habits Part 2
You want to take care of your needs more, maybe tidy up more often, or clean out the closet, tidy up the garage, but due to "lazy" habits you haven't found the right tackle yet? We do most things out of habit, we need to get our system (slowly) used to the new components of our daily routine.
This is where it's helpful to reinforce the goals you're aiming for. Again, I'll give an example: you want to clean out the closet this weekend? Fine, just throw all the clothes in front of the closet, on the floor, during the week. That way you see the goal in front of you, you have an anchor set, whenever you see the disaster you know what's on the schedule for the weekend.
And when it would be time to clean up the closet again, you start throwing things on the floor again, you build the habit on the right time to clean up to a peak.
Our actions are habits that we can improve, that we should change when they show themselves to be "out of time". And the easiest way to do this is to create some sort of list of your habits, and then think about which ones are "good" and which ones should be "gone". And then, of course, ask your ego what new habits would be great. Do you want to learn a new language? Or improve your cooking, for example? How could you incorporate these goals into your life as habits?
Let me give you an example: You want to learn Spanish. To do that, it would be massively beneficial if you looked more often at the Spanish book you bought for that purpose. How could you get used to at least leafing through it every day? I would put the book on the toilet, put all other "reading material" away there, and make it a habit to go to the quiet little room without my cell phone. Now whenever I do my "business" I could follow my new habit, sometimes briefly, sometimes longer pick up the book, but make it a habit. After a while, you'll be able to speak Spanish, want to bet?
It is also important to make the new habits "palatable" to yourself, for example to reward yourself, or to link the habits with pleasant things. Let me give you another example: You look forward to your coffee every morning, you see this drink as a "highlight" that gives you a good start to the day? Then link the coffee with yoga, which you have already pushed into your consciousness by the mat you prepared in the evening. But today you have the coffee only afterwards, or you have to earn the second cup today, you establish a new habit.
The way is the goal!
Inculcate the habits that suit the person
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
You want to take care of your needs more, maybe tidy up more often, or clean out the closet, tidy up the garage, but due to "lazy" habits you haven't found the right tackle yet? We do most things out of habit, we need to get our system (slowly) used to the new components of our daily routine.
This is where it's helpful to reinforce the goals you're aiming for. Again, I'll give an example: you want to clean out the closet this weekend? Fine, just throw all the clothes in front of the closet, on the floor, during the week. That way you see the goal in front of you, you have an anchor set, whenever you see the disaster you know what's on the schedule for the weekend.
And when it would be time to clean up the closet again, you start throwing things on the floor again, you build the habit on the right time to clean up to a peak.
Our actions are habits that we can improve, that we should change when they show themselves to be "out of time". And the easiest way to do this is to create some sort of list of your habits, and then think about which ones are "good" and which ones should be "gone". And then, of course, ask your ego what new habits would be great. Do you want to learn a new language? Or improve your cooking, for example? How could you incorporate these goals into your life as habits?
Let me give you an example: You want to learn Spanish. To do that, it would be massively beneficial if you looked more often at the Spanish book you bought for that purpose. How could you get used to at least leafing through it every day? I would put the book on the toilet, put all other "reading material" away there, and make it a habit to go to the quiet little room without my cell phone. Now whenever I do my "business" I could follow my new habit, sometimes briefly, sometimes longer pick up the book, but make it a habit. After a while, you'll be able to speak Spanish, want to bet?
It is also important to make the new habits "palatable" to yourself, for example to reward yourself, or to link the habits with pleasant things. Let me give you another example: You look forward to your coffee every morning, you see this drink as a "highlight" that gives you a good start to the day? Then link the coffee with yoga, which you have already pushed into your consciousness by the mat you prepared in the evening. But today you have the coffee only afterwards, or you have to earn the second cup today, you establish a new habit.
The way is the goal!
Inculcate the habits that suit the person
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Habits
Who thinks to have life "under control" is mistaken, we are primarily controlled by our habits.
Everything is subjected to habits, from getting up to going to bed, all actions are subjected to constant repetition, freely according to the motto: "We have always done it this way"!
If you want to improve your self (and from a Buddhist point of view there is nothing against it, Buddha admonished his followers to discipline, mindfulness and asceticism) you should think about your actions, especially about your habits. Our habits make up almost 90 percent of our actions, so if you have formed "bad" habits, you are quickly on the "wrong" side.
To really think about habits seems boring at first, because many of our habits are just not exciting, repeat themselves over and over again, are not glamorous, but banal and musty. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to take a look at the connections within us.
Let me give you an example: You have gotten into the habit of a very special way of washing the plates, glasses and pots. You came up with this method once, many years ago, and you've been doing the dishes this way ever since. Whether this system really makes sense (or not), you have not checked for a long time. Maybe there is a clever alternative, because there are many people in the world who think about all kinds of things. This is especially noticeable with the so-called "lifehacks", the many, little videos that are supposed to teach us how to peel tomatoes, or for example how to fold our clothes.
Those who are not fully satisfied with themselves can work on themselves by examining their habits, keeping the good rituals and getting rid of the bad ones. And here small things make a big difference, if you incorporate a few minor changes in your habits every day, you will change tremendously in the course of a year.
Let me give you another example: you brush your teeth every evening, then go to bed and turn off the lights. What would change if you spread out your yoga mat in the living room before going to bed? Would that be an impetus for you to actually do your yoga in the morning? Would that be a positive change in your habits? I think YES.
So what habits are bothering you about yourself? Can you list (without thinking) two or three? What bothers me about myself is that I eat too quickly, I always find myself "gorging" because I have so much work to do. So I try to put an anchor in my mind palace, so that I more and more refrain from the habit of gorging and more often chew the food completely before I swallow it.
Tomorrow, read on about the habits that make life yours.
The journey is (as always) the destination!
Almost every personality view becomes a habit and thus a bondage
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Who thinks to have life "under control" is mistaken, we are primarily controlled by our habits.
Everything is subjected to habits, from getting up to going to bed, all actions are subjected to constant repetition, freely according to the motto: "We have always done it this way"!
If you want to improve your self (and from a Buddhist point of view there is nothing against it, Buddha admonished his followers to discipline, mindfulness and asceticism) you should think about your actions, especially about your habits. Our habits make up almost 90 percent of our actions, so if you have formed "bad" habits, you are quickly on the "wrong" side.
To really think about habits seems boring at first, because many of our habits are just not exciting, repeat themselves over and over again, are not glamorous, but banal and musty. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to take a look at the connections within us.
Let me give you an example: You have gotten into the habit of a very special way of washing the plates, glasses and pots. You came up with this method once, many years ago, and you've been doing the dishes this way ever since. Whether this system really makes sense (or not), you have not checked for a long time. Maybe there is a clever alternative, because there are many people in the world who think about all kinds of things. This is especially noticeable with the so-called "lifehacks", the many, little videos that are supposed to teach us how to peel tomatoes, or for example how to fold our clothes.
Those who are not fully satisfied with themselves can work on themselves by examining their habits, keeping the good rituals and getting rid of the bad ones. And here small things make a big difference, if you incorporate a few minor changes in your habits every day, you will change tremendously in the course of a year.
Let me give you another example: you brush your teeth every evening, then go to bed and turn off the lights. What would change if you spread out your yoga mat in the living room before going to bed? Would that be an impetus for you to actually do your yoga in the morning? Would that be a positive change in your habits? I think YES.
So what habits are bothering you about yourself? Can you list (without thinking) two or three? What bothers me about myself is that I eat too quickly, I always find myself "gorging" because I have so much work to do. So I try to put an anchor in my mind palace, so that I more and more refrain from the habit of gorging and more often chew the food completely before I swallow it.
Tomorrow, read on about the habits that make life yours.
The journey is (as always) the destination!
Almost every personality view becomes a habit and thus a bondage
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
What is Chan? Part 3
The sufferings from which we suffer have not only been poured out on us by karma, no, we have inflicted many pains on ourselves. For example, because in our insatiable thirst for satisfaction we are always thinking up new desires, then are disappointed when none of them come to pass.
Or because we are constantly stuck in the past, reliving over and over again the moments when we were "so" happy, then realizing that it's not like that now.
Also, because we imagine the future as we would like to "have it", then find out in reality that we are not "Superman".
We prefer to deceive ourselves, to delude ourselves, to see the world as we like it. And we continue to be disappointed, one after the other.
C. Deception
We want to be happy, we want to be satisfied with our job and our environment, we don't want to see the many things that go wrong as long as we can avoid them.
This is exactly where the teachings of Buddha come in, we should look "behind the scenes", not twist things so that they then correspond to our ideas, but accept everything as it is. This requires a great deal of courage, because most of the time "reality" is repulsive, not very pleasant, just not like in Hollywood flicks. Self-deception is something very unpleasant, because the rude awakening is guaranteed to come, if not today, then tomorrow.
The lifeline here is Chan (Zen) Buddhism, which offers us the chance to escape suffering here first. According to Buddha, sufferings are unnecessary, self-chosen. After "awakening" there are no more sufferings, man is already in Nirvana.
Of course you can still deceive yourself for a while, the flesh is not yet completely withered, the teeth are "still" in, the legs still "want". But you don't seriously believe that you will be spared the decay, that everything will remain as it is right now?
You will pass away, your family will go (one after the other), all your possessions will rust and rot, nothing will remain, even the planet will decay. If you continue to deceive yourself, you will be disappointed.
Nothing is for eternity, no living being makes an exception.
Nevertheless applies: The way is the goal!
In the next days you read further to the main topic "What is Chan?"
Because of simple sense pleasures he risks the death by hunger and thirst
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
The sufferings from which we suffer have not only been poured out on us by karma, no, we have inflicted many pains on ourselves. For example, because in our insatiable thirst for satisfaction we are always thinking up new desires, then are disappointed when none of them come to pass.
Or because we are constantly stuck in the past, reliving over and over again the moments when we were "so" happy, then realizing that it's not like that now.
Also, because we imagine the future as we would like to "have it", then find out in reality that we are not "Superman".
We prefer to deceive ourselves, to delude ourselves, to see the world as we like it. And we continue to be disappointed, one after the other.
C. Deception
We want to be happy, we want to be satisfied with our job and our environment, we don't want to see the many things that go wrong as long as we can avoid them.
This is exactly where the teachings of Buddha come in, we should look "behind the scenes", not twist things so that they then correspond to our ideas, but accept everything as it is. This requires a great deal of courage, because most of the time "reality" is repulsive, not very pleasant, just not like in Hollywood flicks. Self-deception is something very unpleasant, because the rude awakening is guaranteed to come, if not today, then tomorrow.
The lifeline here is Chan (Zen) Buddhism, which offers us the chance to escape suffering here first. According to Buddha, sufferings are unnecessary, self-chosen. After "awakening" there are no more sufferings, man is already in Nirvana.
Of course you can still deceive yourself for a while, the flesh is not yet completely withered, the teeth are "still" in, the legs still "want". But you don't seriously believe that you will be spared the decay, that everything will remain as it is right now?
You will pass away, your family will go (one after the other), all your possessions will rust and rot, nothing will remain, even the planet will decay. If you continue to deceive yourself, you will be disappointed.
Nothing is for eternity, no living being makes an exception.
Nevertheless applies: The way is the goal!
In the next days you read further to the main topic "What is Chan?"
Because of simple sense pleasures he risks the death by hunger and thirst
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
What is Chan? Part 2
In the life of every Chan (Zen) Buddhist, the question arises again and again, "What is Chan ?"
Chan Buddhism is full of mysteries, peppered with secrets, full of legends and tales. Saints and great teachers have shaped all spiritual systems over thousands of years according to the taste of the times. Especially the philosophy of the Shaolin temple has even become world-famous through the aspect of the (indomitable) fighting monks nor through many stories that seem superhuman.
But this still does not explain Chan Buddhism. First of all, Chan (Zen) Buddhism is something different for really everyone. But what is the fundamental pillar is the FACT that Chan (Zen) Buddhism is the RESCUE from the suffering that so preoccupies people. And what do we suffer, all day long we are preoccupied with our suffering, our pain, and our fears that gather over our heads like dark, black clouds.
B. Suffering
Everything is subject to impermanence. And because this is so, we suffer, because we cannot keep anything, we will lose everything, our lives, our loved ones, our possessions, simply everything.
Yes, suffering also gives us depth, lets us grow, BUT there is also completely meaningless suffering, such as self-inflicted suffering. Of course I can suffer from my circumstances, for example from my appearance or my figure. But does that bring anything? Or does it only make everything much worse (and it can always get worse).
The Buddha's teaching is about overcoming suffering, about reaching "enlightenment". Of course I can feel ashamed if I have no money, or if I am disabled, or if I get old and sick. From this then arises suffering, which I have caused myself in the last consequence.
Many "types" of our suffering we can easily "get rid of", if we use our mindfulness on it. For example, when we become "aware" of the thoughts, where does the thought come from, where does it go? We don't have to hold on to the suffering, it doesn't do us any good to feel the same pain over and over again. Surely you have not yet been made aware of the nature of suffering, so you feel trapped in the endless spiral of fears, pain and suffering.
Well you have me, I'll make you aware of the core themes of Buddhist philosophy, ending useless suffering should be on the top of everyone's "To Do" list, whether beginner or advanced, people are suffering, it doesn't have to be. Especially the "feel-good Buddhists" among us need to put their mindfulness on this in order to progress in the teaching.
You know: The way is the goal! Read more tomorrow on the topic "What is Chan?
Putting an end to suffering
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
In the life of every Chan (Zen) Buddhist, the question arises again and again, "What is Chan ?"
Chan Buddhism is full of mysteries, peppered with secrets, full of legends and tales. Saints and great teachers have shaped all spiritual systems over thousands of years according to the taste of the times. Especially the philosophy of the Shaolin temple has even become world-famous through the aspect of the (indomitable) fighting monks nor through many stories that seem superhuman.
But this still does not explain Chan Buddhism. First of all, Chan (Zen) Buddhism is something different for really everyone. But what is the fundamental pillar is the FACT that Chan (Zen) Buddhism is the RESCUE from the suffering that so preoccupies people. And what do we suffer, all day long we are preoccupied with our suffering, our pain, and our fears that gather over our heads like dark, black clouds.
B. Suffering
Everything is subject to impermanence. And because this is so, we suffer, because we cannot keep anything, we will lose everything, our lives, our loved ones, our possessions, simply everything.
Yes, suffering also gives us depth, lets us grow, BUT there is also completely meaningless suffering, such as self-inflicted suffering. Of course I can suffer from my circumstances, for example from my appearance or my figure. But does that bring anything? Or does it only make everything much worse (and it can always get worse).
The Buddha's teaching is about overcoming suffering, about reaching "enlightenment". Of course I can feel ashamed if I have no money, or if I am disabled, or if I get old and sick. From this then arises suffering, which I have caused myself in the last consequence.
Many "types" of our suffering we can easily "get rid of", if we use our mindfulness on it. For example, when we become "aware" of the thoughts, where does the thought come from, where does it go? We don't have to hold on to the suffering, it doesn't do us any good to feel the same pain over and over again. Surely you have not yet been made aware of the nature of suffering, so you feel trapped in the endless spiral of fears, pain and suffering.
Well you have me, I'll make you aware of the core themes of Buddhist philosophy, ending useless suffering should be on the top of everyone's "To Do" list, whether beginner or advanced, people are suffering, it doesn't have to be. Especially the "feel-good Buddhists" among us need to put their mindfulness on this in order to progress in the teaching.
You know: The way is the goal! Read more tomorrow on the topic "What is Chan?
Putting an end to suffering
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
What is Chan?
Chan (jap: Zen) is complex, not so easy to pigeonhole. On the one hand, it is for many people in this world a religion that has its rites, which have been developed over thousands of years, depending on the country's customs is practiced.
On the other hand, Chan is also a philosophy that seems full of mythical aspects that allow the practitioner to "dive" into it. In Europe and in the USA Chan is glorified as a teaching, the ambiguities about the world view were pre-programmed. Too little basic knowledge is available, too few masters are active, too many subgroups have formed.
Fundamental to the Chan is meditation and, especially in Shaolin Temple China, meditative physical activity, which distinguishes it from the pure still sitting of the Japanese Zen monks.
Meditation is also possible in movement, for example in the 108 prostrations, or in Qi Gong.
Chan contains many a life-changing realization, which is sometimes not immediately perceived, which must first "sink in". The mind, but also the body must be prepared, everything must fit, the conditions must first be created. At the very beginning there is the decision.
Do I want this? Do I want to awaken? Do I give it a chance? Once the decision has been made, then the basis must be created.
A. Consciousness
Every person thinks of himself as going through life fully conscious. But is that so? When you get up, do you do it consciously? Or do you take a shower consciously? Do you consciously make your breakfast?
Probably not. They do it the way they have always done it, without thinking much, mostly even without "wasting" a thought on it. This has to change, you have to be aware of all the things that make up you (and your life) as well.
This newfound awareness will permeate all areas of your life, affecting your work, your friends and acquaintances, your family, your body. Even in your sleep you will have to become "aware" of you, everything belongs together, everything is separate.
You can achieve this with meditation, which will lead you into the state of unconscious consciousness, observing the thoughts that the thought palace spits out, then also following them, coming to the origin of these energies. In doing so, the thoughts are no longer allowed to do what they want, but they are contained, mindfully steered in a direction, led to rest. And of course replaced with something meaningful, with the thought of "enlightenment", which can then soon give peace to the madness.
Read on tomorrow to my series "What is Chan?"
The path is the goal!
May the teacher teach the students the teaching
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Chan (jap: Zen) is complex, not so easy to pigeonhole. On the one hand, it is for many people in this world a religion that has its rites, which have been developed over thousands of years, depending on the country's customs is practiced.
On the other hand, Chan is also a philosophy that seems full of mythical aspects that allow the practitioner to "dive" into it. In Europe and in the USA Chan is glorified as a teaching, the ambiguities about the world view were pre-programmed. Too little basic knowledge is available, too few masters are active, too many subgroups have formed.
Fundamental to the Chan is meditation and, especially in Shaolin Temple China, meditative physical activity, which distinguishes it from the pure still sitting of the Japanese Zen monks.
Meditation is also possible in movement, for example in the 108 prostrations, or in Qi Gong.
Chan contains many a life-changing realization, which is sometimes not immediately perceived, which must first "sink in". The mind, but also the body must be prepared, everything must fit, the conditions must first be created. At the very beginning there is the decision.
Do I want this? Do I want to awaken? Do I give it a chance? Once the decision has been made, then the basis must be created.
A. Consciousness
Every person thinks of himself as going through life fully conscious. But is that so? When you get up, do you do it consciously? Or do you take a shower consciously? Do you consciously make your breakfast?
Probably not. They do it the way they have always done it, without thinking much, mostly even without "wasting" a thought on it. This has to change, you have to be aware of all the things that make up you (and your life) as well.
This newfound awareness will permeate all areas of your life, affecting your work, your friends and acquaintances, your family, your body. Even in your sleep you will have to become "aware" of you, everything belongs together, everything is separate.
You can achieve this with meditation, which will lead you into the state of unconscious consciousness, observing the thoughts that the thought palace spits out, then also following them, coming to the origin of these energies. In doing so, the thoughts are no longer allowed to do what they want, but they are contained, mindfully steered in a direction, led to rest. And of course replaced with something meaningful, with the thought of "enlightenment", which can then soon give peace to the madness.
Read on tomorrow to my series "What is Chan?"
The path is the goal!
May the teacher teach the students the teaching
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Why do I have to overcome my ego?
From most religions we know the fact that the individual should refrain from his egoistic behavior for the good of the group, for this there are then rules, commandments and laws.
In Chan (Zen) Buddhism, too, the abandonment of the ego is a central issue. In some groups the students are frustrated by the master, occupied with (unsolvable) tasks in order to achieve detachment from worldliness.
But even the frustration usually leads to attachments, very rarely to the final abandonment of the ego. Neither thinking "I am the greatest", nor the humble notion "I am nothing", none of these will release the ego into oblivion.
Constantly thinking about it, by the way, will not either, nor will the learned behavior patterns bring the thought palace to rest, no, only walking the path will bring clarity. He who no longer cares about evaluations, no longer divides into "right" or "wrong", will approach his goal in any case.
Thinking about overcoming the ego is comparable to the stimulus of coughing that we want to suppress (for example in the theater), the thought of coughing quickly becomes overwhelming, the situation only gets better when the stimulus subsides. So it is with overcoming the ego, which can only take place when it itself no longer receives attention.
To "not" think of something is incomparably more difficult than to think of something. If the one thought constantly wants to go through the head, then it is difficult to stop it.
It is important for this that the thought is replaced by another one, that the thought palace is given something to replace it. This is where the concept of "enlightenment" that Buddha recommended to his followers comes in quite handy.
Have you ever thought about your "awakening"? What might that be, the attainment of another sphere, or immortality, or wisdom? What do you think? It is clear that "enlightenment" is the essence of Buddhist philosophy, that the individual should think about this core issue.
And how can "enlightenment" be achieved? Well, relatively simply, the seeker sets out on the path to his goal, beginning with a decision. Then, in a further step, the ego must be switched off, or trimmed to a reasonable measure.
The ego is the central point in the teachings of the sublime, who still values, or has material thoughts, has not yet progressed far enough to go through the gateless gate. The ego can cause wars, it can kill and enslave, it is a big problem almost with every human being.
The way is the goal!
Among the ideals that can lift a person above himself and his environment, eliminating worldly desires, eradicating sloth and sleepiness, vanity and low esteem, overcoming fearfulness and restlessness, and renouncing ill-will are among the most essential ones.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
From most religions we know the fact that the individual should refrain from his egoistic behavior for the good of the group, for this there are then rules, commandments and laws.
In Chan (Zen) Buddhism, too, the abandonment of the ego is a central issue. In some groups the students are frustrated by the master, occupied with (unsolvable) tasks in order to achieve detachment from worldliness.
But even the frustration usually leads to attachments, very rarely to the final abandonment of the ego. Neither thinking "I am the greatest", nor the humble notion "I am nothing", none of these will release the ego into oblivion.
Constantly thinking about it, by the way, will not either, nor will the learned behavior patterns bring the thought palace to rest, no, only walking the path will bring clarity. He who no longer cares about evaluations, no longer divides into "right" or "wrong", will approach his goal in any case.
Thinking about overcoming the ego is comparable to the stimulus of coughing that we want to suppress (for example in the theater), the thought of coughing quickly becomes overwhelming, the situation only gets better when the stimulus subsides. So it is with overcoming the ego, which can only take place when it itself no longer receives attention.
To "not" think of something is incomparably more difficult than to think of something. If the one thought constantly wants to go through the head, then it is difficult to stop it.
It is important for this that the thought is replaced by another one, that the thought palace is given something to replace it. This is where the concept of "enlightenment" that Buddha recommended to his followers comes in quite handy.
Have you ever thought about your "awakening"? What might that be, the attainment of another sphere, or immortality, or wisdom? What do you think? It is clear that "enlightenment" is the essence of Buddhist philosophy, that the individual should think about this core issue.
And how can "enlightenment" be achieved? Well, relatively simply, the seeker sets out on the path to his goal, beginning with a decision. Then, in a further step, the ego must be switched off, or trimmed to a reasonable measure.
The ego is the central point in the teachings of the sublime, who still values, or has material thoughts, has not yet progressed far enough to go through the gateless gate. The ego can cause wars, it can kill and enslave, it is a big problem almost with every human being.
The way is the goal!
Among the ideals that can lift a person above himself and his environment, eliminating worldly desires, eradicating sloth and sleepiness, vanity and low esteem, overcoming fearfulness and restlessness, and renouncing ill-will are among the most essential ones.
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Near-death experience
A near-death experience is an experience "close to" death, that is, almost dead, so to speak.
One could also express it in such a way that life itself is a continuous near-death experience, whereby the almost dead person just got away again.
The possibility to die now, in this moment, that is absolutely real, just as the chances stand for a survival, at least at the end one dies.
The religions of this world search for explanations for the fate "after death", was it that, or is there the paradise after all? Buddhism differs from monotheistic world views in that everyone involved can experience his "enlightenment", is not at the mercy of a spiritual elite.
The near-death experience is felt especially in life-threatening situations; witnesses report similar problems in their stories. One day we will all have such a near-death experience, which will then turn into a death experience, then when we die. Tunnel situations occur frequently, light apparitions occur, encounters with deceased friends or relatives creep out the audience in any horror movie.
There are plenty of opinions about it, the explanations are spiritual approaches and horror stories, film and art have invented the shudder as a genre, in any case, such an experience also impresses the psyche of those affected, dying is just something very personal.
The whole life is a simple near-death experience, because each of us has died several times FAST, often without knowing it, our privacy is vulnerable, we know our fate.
Is there a continuation of life after death, humanity wonders all the time? Will we, one way or another, live on after death? The mostly religious hope for a paradise has lost credibility, consciousness has emancipated itself.
Near-death experiences have also inspired the authors in Buddhism, the persistence beyond death forms the nucleus of the doctrine of rebirth. For to be born again, the consciousness should survive at least in parts.
The experiences are mostly without body, here only the spirit ghosts without entering the beyond. What does the future bring, what will we go through? And how was the return after the near-death experience?
Have you ever almost died? And what would be your true feelings? Where did we come from, where will we go?
Such an experience gives the experience of time and space as one, which can also be a good lesson for further survival.
Either you start believing after such an experience, or you start asking questions about the meaning. In any case Buddhism has suitable answers.
The way is the goal!
To start anew at a warm destination after death
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
A near-death experience is an experience "close to" death, that is, almost dead, so to speak.
One could also express it in such a way that life itself is a continuous near-death experience, whereby the almost dead person just got away again.
The possibility to die now, in this moment, that is absolutely real, just as the chances stand for a survival, at least at the end one dies.
The religions of this world search for explanations for the fate "after death", was it that, or is there the paradise after all? Buddhism differs from monotheistic world views in that everyone involved can experience his "enlightenment", is not at the mercy of a spiritual elite.
The near-death experience is felt especially in life-threatening situations; witnesses report similar problems in their stories. One day we will all have such a near-death experience, which will then turn into a death experience, then when we die. Tunnel situations occur frequently, light apparitions occur, encounters with deceased friends or relatives creep out the audience in any horror movie.
There are plenty of opinions about it, the explanations are spiritual approaches and horror stories, film and art have invented the shudder as a genre, in any case, such an experience also impresses the psyche of those affected, dying is just something very personal.
The whole life is a simple near-death experience, because each of us has died several times FAST, often without knowing it, our privacy is vulnerable, we know our fate.
Is there a continuation of life after death, humanity wonders all the time? Will we, one way or another, live on after death? The mostly religious hope for a paradise has lost credibility, consciousness has emancipated itself.
Near-death experiences have also inspired the authors in Buddhism, the persistence beyond death forms the nucleus of the doctrine of rebirth. For to be born again, the consciousness should survive at least in parts.
The experiences are mostly without body, here only the spirit ghosts without entering the beyond. What does the future bring, what will we go through? And how was the return after the near-death experience?
Have you ever almost died? And what would be your true feelings? Where did we come from, where will we go?
Such an experience gives the experience of time and space as one, which can also be a good lesson for further survival.
Either you start believing after such an experience, or you start asking questions about the meaning. In any case Buddhism has suitable answers.
The way is the goal!
To start anew at a warm destination after death
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
6 Minuten
Real eyes
Real eyes recognize real lies, only who sees can recognize, who does not like to see (or does not dare) will not discover lies.
Now real can differ strongly in the eye of the respective observer, what one feels as "real" is for other people just "fake", what do they say about justice?
The great teacher said that we should approach things without filters, not worship any standards, always have to decide like anew, not see life so narrowly. Can you open your eyes wide, see even the things that you constantly stumble. And who does not stumble, is not sometimes at the mercy of temptation, a direct attack would be suicide.
We all have our problems, are helpless and needy in many ways. Respect and trust must be won, the blood smells like nothing else. Bastard or nobleman, singer, beggar or general, where is the connection to Buddhism? Buddha exhorted to the "right" hearing, "right" recognizing, "right" speaking and "right" acting. How could the energies flow?
What would be an interesting technique, how could a morning look like, formative moments lie at the edge of the path, the path to enlightenment and self-love.
But real eyes are sometimes forced to go there, committed to the truth, not egoistic according to the spirit of the times. The world has changed, the wealth is in the respective energy, the new currency is power.
To hold strength in the face of transience seems amazing, the whole world is upside down. We are a runaway nobody, outcast from society, with our backs to the wall. Everyone gets his share, the distribution will rarely be fair, the foresight of Buddha forms extensive experiences and explanations.
Open your eyes, as a fragile alliance, loyal and determined, only the way can be the goal, do you want to think about it? If there should be something to the philosophy of the Indian prince, what would be the consequences for you? Will you strive for enlightenment, or just hear some comforting words? Do we want this decision?
Loyalty and a clear line, discipline and "right" hearing, "right" recognizing, "right" speaking and "right" acting, followed by real eyes, knowing eyes with people who can do something.
The way is as always the goal!
Who wants a better life, without judgment and guilt, following the path of Buddha, nothing is as exciting as normality, what is valuable, what is not? Nothing will be the same tomorrow as it was today, do you keep a diary?
Because I hardly ate, the shine of my eyes diminished
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
Real eyes recognize real lies, only who sees can recognize, who does not like to see (or does not dare) will not discover lies.
Now real can differ strongly in the eye of the respective observer, what one feels as "real" is for other people just "fake", what do they say about justice?
The great teacher said that we should approach things without filters, not worship any standards, always have to decide like anew, not see life so narrowly. Can you open your eyes wide, see even the things that you constantly stumble. And who does not stumble, is not sometimes at the mercy of temptation, a direct attack would be suicide.
We all have our problems, are helpless and needy in many ways. Respect and trust must be won, the blood smells like nothing else. Bastard or nobleman, singer, beggar or general, where is the connection to Buddhism? Buddha exhorted to the "right" hearing, "right" recognizing, "right" speaking and "right" acting. How could the energies flow?
What would be an interesting technique, how could a morning look like, formative moments lie at the edge of the path, the path to enlightenment and self-love.
But real eyes are sometimes forced to go there, committed to the truth, not egoistic according to the spirit of the times. The world has changed, the wealth is in the respective energy, the new currency is power.
To hold strength in the face of transience seems amazing, the whole world is upside down. We are a runaway nobody, outcast from society, with our backs to the wall. Everyone gets his share, the distribution will rarely be fair, the foresight of Buddha forms extensive experiences and explanations.
Open your eyes, as a fragile alliance, loyal and determined, only the way can be the goal, do you want to think about it? If there should be something to the philosophy of the Indian prince, what would be the consequences for you? Will you strive for enlightenment, or just hear some comforting words? Do we want this decision?
Loyalty and a clear line, discipline and "right" hearing, "right" recognizing, "right" speaking and "right" acting, followed by real eyes, knowing eyes with people who can do something.
The way is as always the goal!
Who wants a better life, without judgment and guilt, following the path of Buddha, nothing is as exciting as normality, what is valuable, what is not? Nothing will be the same tomorrow as it was today, do you keep a diary?
Because I hardly ate, the shine of my eyes diminished
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de
(Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores)
