practice
290 articles in tag.
Becoming the Self Only You Can Be
Chan Master Nanyue Huairang had a disciple named Mazu. While staying at Prajna Temple, Mazu spent his days sitting in cross-legged meditation, lost in deep thought. Master Huairang eventually approached him and asked, "What are you hopin...
ReadWhich Path Leads Out of the Mountains? Follow the Stream
After hearing Mazu Daoyi's teaching that "this very mind is Buddha," the monk Damei (752–839) awakened and withdrew into the wilderness. He built himself a simple grass hut right there on the mountain trail.
ReadIt Is None of My Concern
Master Yangshan Huiji asked Master Weishan Lingyou, “When a hundred thousand, a million phenomena arise all at once, what should be done?” “Blue is not yellow, long is not short,” said Weishan. “All dharmas abide in their own places; it ...
ReadThe Buddha's Afflictions
A devotee asked Chan Master Zhaozhou Congshen, "Does the Buddha have afflictions?"
ReadThe Way to Navigate the World
The Grand Academician Huang Shan Gu once heard that Chan Master Zuxin was always calm, unruffled, and completely at ease no matter the situation. So he traveled to visit the master in person to ask for his guidance on this so-called “way...
ReadNo Words for It
Chan Master Shitou Xiqian asked the lay practitioner Pang Yun, “Since you first came to see this old monk, how have you been tending to your daily practice?”
ReadTrue Contentment Is Not Settling for Meager Gains
True contentment is not settling for meager gains. It is the understanding that when you find yourself in wholesome karmic conditions, you apply steady, sincere effort to settle your mind and walk the path of practice. It is not settling...
ReadProfessor Lin Chongan: Q&A on the Āgama
The term "Āgama" (also rendered by the alternate Chinese transliteration 阿笈摩, Āqímó) is the foundational body of teachings transmitted by Śākyamuni Buddha. At the First Council held the year after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, four collectio...
ReadZhuang Chunjiang — A Study of Tathāgatagarbha, Chapter 7: The Yogācāra Teaching on Tathāgatagarbha
The ālaya-vijñāna as retributive seeds emphasizes the defiled aspect; transforming defiled perfuming into pure perfuming, while manifesting the suchness that's pure by nature, is hard to explain fully. Tathāgatagarbha as basis emphasizes...
ReadLayperson Zhuang Chunjiang: Fundamentals of Buddhist Practice — Chapter 5: The Dharma in Daily Life — Section 1: Discipline of the Six Sense Faculties
The most precious gift of the Dharma is its ability to fully resolve the suffering and distress we live with. And that suffering and distress arise right in the midst of our everyday lives. So if our Dharma practice can’t weave itself in...
ReadVenerable Master Da’an’s Collected Teachings: Diligent Pure Land Cultivation
The Dharma is lived as it is taught, and taught as it is lived. A foot of talk is worth less than an inch of practice. It all comes down to how you practice: the Dharma only becomes real when you put it into action.
ReadYou Must Cultivate This Inner Ideal and Purpose
If we don’t practice, it’s hard to grasp the full depth of Master Tiantai Zhi’s teaching on not sparing one’s life for the Dharma. But if you’re truly committed to the path of practice, you must build a foundation of pure merit even as y...
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