Words on
the way of Zen
Reflections on practice, tradition, and the everyday path of Zen.
Value Time and Never Waste It: Cultivate Pure Karma at Every Moment
Our practice of the Pure Land path is aimed directly at attaining Buddhahood. We do not stop midway at the phantom city, nor do we seek to realize the partial nirvana of the Sravakas. If we were to set aside Buddha recitation, abandon th...
ReadSpiritual Cultivation Aims to Transform the Eight Consciousnesses into the Four Wisdoms
We will now discuss the "Three Bodies and Four Wisdoms". The Three Bodies—the Dharmakaya (Dharma Body), Sambhogakaya (Reward Body), and Nirmanakaya (Response Body)—are innate to all sentient beings, and are fully actualized upon enlighte...
ReadThe Types of the Three Jewels
The classifications of the Three Jewels have varied greatly throughout history, but broadly speaking, they all arise from differences between the phenomenal and the noumenal. For now, let us divide them into two main categories.
ReadThe Benefits of Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels Are Truly Too Many to Count
The benefits of taking refuge in the Three Jewels are truly countless. One can gain happiness in this present life, happiness in future lives, and ultimately attain the supreme peace of Nirvana. Summarized, there are roughly eight such b...
ReadHow Do External Circumstances Make Their Way Into Your Mind to Hurt You?
To cultivate forbearance, you must first develop a clear understanding of the mental objects that arise within your own mind. These mental objects act as a critical bridge for the transmission of affliction. Let me put this to all of you...
ReadHow Is the Identity of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis Established?
Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis must certainly uphold the precepts of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis. However, among the seven Buddhas of the past, the first three—Vipashyin, Shikhin, and Vishvabhu—did not codify or expound the precepts, yet they too h...
ReadWhy We Should Stay Away from People in Power
What is meant by the Bodhisattva-mahāsattva's "grounds for association"? A Bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not associate with kings, princes, ministers, or officials.
ReadGoing Along with Conditions All Day While Remaining Unchanged
From the perspective of our single-thought mind-nature, though our present mind is a grasping, discriminative consciousness: a single instant of ignorance gives rise to the three subtle marks of existence; when the phenomenal realm, whic...
ReadDo Not Seek the Pleasures of the Five Desires
The untainted pure mind is also rooted in this wisdom of emptiness, as we explained earlier.
ReadDual Cultivation of Chan and Pure Land, and the Abandonment of Chan for Pure Land
The second doubt concerns the claim that "there is no need for investigative meditation."
ReadPrerequisite for Every Sentient Being to Attain Liberation
It was only when the Brahmin woman found herself in the hell realm that she came to realize: not only was her mother in this present life her own mother, but every being suffering in hell was also her mother across countless past lifetim...
ReadThe Nature and Function of Ordination
In Buddhism, those who renounce the household life are divided into five categories: śrāmaṇera, śrāmaṇerikā, śikṣamāṇā, bhikṣu, and bhikṣuṇī. These five—also known as the five ranks or five classes—are defined as follows: a male who has ...
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