Showing 4 articles
Zen Gardens As A Portal To Contemplation
Author: Manjula NanavatiMay 1, 2024
“To study Zen is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all things.” – Dogen Zenji. It is said that the founder of Buddhism in Japan, the monk Mahakashyapa, received his illumination directly from Shakyamuni t [...]
‘To be or not to be’ Today
Author: Ana Luisa LellisSeptember 8, 2023
‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. How many times have we heard, seen, or read this sentence? From Laurence Olivier to Bugs Bunny, so many have tried their hand at interpreting what is quite possibly the most famous soliloquy in literature. Hamlet’s themes, characters, and iconic lines have permeated various forms [...]
For Your Soul to Grow
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaJanuary 3, 2022
I am not referring to your Divine Spirit which, because it is so, can neither grow nor diminish, be born nor die, but to that higher part in us which we commonly call Soul. It is common knowledge that physical exercise, for example, develops muscles, and that any learning must be based on tenacity in [...]
Solar Festivals in Tibetan Buddhism
Author: Giulia GiaccoJuly 21, 2020
The qualities of the summer solstice: stillness, light, clarity, openness, warmth and abundance, parallel in many ways the factors of enlightenment in the teachings of the Buddha. However, Buddhism has no celebration around the summer solstice. Summer solstice celebrations don’t seem to synchronise well with the concept of the “middle way”. One of the reasons [...]