The journal

Words on
the way of Zen

Reflections on practice, tradition, and the everyday path of Zen.

Practice14 min

Venerable Gangxiao: ECT Therapy for Difficult Illnesses — Chapter 8: The Medical Perspective of Freudianism

The Medical Perspective of Freudianism

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Practice14 min

Professor Lin Chongan: An Interview on His Journey of Learning Buddhism

An Interview with Professor Lin Chongan on His Journey of Learning Buddhism

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Practice10 min

Master Gangxiao: ECT Therapy for Difficult and Intractable Conditions — Chapter 7: ECT Therapy

ECT Therapy

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Philosophy12 min

Professor Lin Chong'an: Calming and Insight in the Northern Transmission of the Āgama Sūtras and Commentaries

Most people live in a world of "outward looking"—their gaze fixed always on others. When others please them, they're happy; when things don't go their way, they get angry. Without realizing it, they've become slaves to external condition...

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Practice4 min

Professor Lin Chong-an: The Meditation Methods of Mahamudra in the Tibetan White Sect

the Nyingma (Red Sect), Kagyu (White Sect), Sakya (Multicolored Sect), and Gelug (Yellow Sect). The White Sect has two main lineages. One was established by Marpa (1012), a Tibetan who traveled to India to study Mahamudra and other teach...

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Practice15 min

Master Gangxiao: ECT Therapy for Difficult Diseases — Chapter Five: Proof from Ancient Cultures

The conclusion about "suffering as a cure" still needs to be proven. I'll start with evidence from ancient cultures, then move on to medical science. The cultural evidence is more fun to read—a chance to relax your mind after the drier p...

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Esoteric2 min

Professor Lin Chong-an: Methods of Esoteric Buddhism — An Overview of the Stages of Tantric Practice

An Overview of the Stages of Tantric Practice

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Tradition10 min

Monk Gangxiao: ECT Therapy for Difficult Diseases — Chapter 4: The Conclusion of Near-Death Experiences

Suffering as Cure. Near-death experiences are the subjective accounts given, under the shadow of death, by people who suffered severe trauma or illness and unexpectedly recovered, and by people caught in potentially devastating situation...

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Practice4 min

Prof. Lin Chong'an: The Essentials of the Dhammapada

The Essentials of the Dhammapada

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Practice8 min

Transforming the Attachment to the Five Desires and Six Sense Objects into Attachment to the Name

Good, take a look at this passage. It explains the upholding of the name. Faith, aspiration, and the upholding of the name together embody the threefold wisdom of hearing, contemplation, and cultivation. Hearing this Sutra of Amitabha, t...

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Pure Land4 min

Single-Mindedly Reciting the Name of Myriad Virtues, Aspiring for Rebirth in the Pure Land

How do we put this bodhicitta into practice so it can be fully perfected? The following line holds the answer: “Single-mindedly recite Amitabha’s name of myriad virtues, aspiring for rebirth in the Pure Land.” It teaches us that the only...

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Practice3 min

How Friends Should Treat One Another

"Trustworthy friendship." This too concerns the friendship among the Five Cardinal Relationships—how we ought to get along with one another. These may seem like ordinary things to us, yet today many people don't know how to handle the Fi...

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