The Art of Zen Living

New Word: Committocracy

Daniel — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:45:59 +0000

I promise not to make this a regular thing. I am, however, fairly proud of this word I’ve just made up: Committocracy: Pronunciation: \kə-ˈmi- tok- krə-sē\ Function: noun Date: 2008 Etymology: from the English committee and the Greek -kratia -cracy 1. A government run by committee, where truthiness is more important than fact.

Upekkha - Equanimity

Daniel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:00:24 +0000

Equanimity: Evenness of mind; that calm temper or firmness of mind which is not easily elated or depressed; patience; calmness; composure; as, to bear misfortunes with equanimity That’s the dictionary’s definition of equanimity. It’s a good definition. I imagine that for an outside observer, this is what the 4th immesurable looks like. But how [...]

Mudita - Sympathetic Joy

Daniel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:44:21 +0000

Sympathetic Joy is the ability to be happy when other people are happy. I know it’s a challenge for me. Our culture is very competitive. When we see someone succeed, or someone that is doing better than we are, it’s hard to think “Well, good for them!”. Reverand Kusala tells a story about sympathetic [...]

Karuna - Compassion

Daniel — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:45:33 +0000

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. Dalai Lama While Loving Kindness is a mental state, Compassion is not. Compassion is an action. It is the activity of Loving Kindness. Or, if you prefer a more groovy sort of feel, let’s say that Compassion is Loving Kindness arisen. Except when it’s not. [...]

Metta - Loving Kindness

Daniel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:07:29 +0000

It’s hard to pick out a “favorite” from the 4 immeasurables. They’re all pretty groovy. Loving Kindness is probably the easiest of the 4 to start practicing immediately. Loving kindness is, to me, a head thing. It’s an intention or an attitude. It goes on inside you. The word the Buddha used was metta. I’ve [...]

The 4 immeasurables

Daniel — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:42:43 +0000

When I first came to Buddhism, I wondered what an enlightened person would be like. Maybe that guy from “Kung-Fu”, with all that way-out “wisdom” that sounded good, but made no sense? “Together, we will be as strong as a mule with TWO (he holds up 4 fingers) sacks of grain!” As it turns out, [...]

The Zen of Sick, Busy and Tired.

Daniel — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:33:11 +0000

As near as I can tell, there isn’t really a Zen of sick, busy and tired. I do want to ask you all to just bare with me a few days longer - shortly after starting training for the new job, I came down with some sort of sore throat, cough, stuffy head and congested chest [...]

How To Make Bread Not Be Boring!

Daniel — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:04:39 +0000

One of the ways I’ve been living simply is by making my own bread. Week in, week out, one night a week (while I do other things) I “make me this night my weekly bread”. As good as my basic Honey Whole Wheat recipe is (re-posted inside), a bit of variety is also good. Here are [...]

The Zen of Simple and Easy

Daniel — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:17:16 +0000

When I set out on this path, I remember thinking “What could be easier than living simply?” Heh. It didn’t take long to figure out that simple and easy are worlds apart. The simple way to live is to bake my own bread. It’s wholesome, nutritious, and has lots of good things store bought bread lacks, [...]

Thought for the Week.

Daniel — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:41:23 +0000

It is my belief that whereas the twentieth century has been a century of war and untold suffering, the twenty-first century should be one of peace and dialogue. As the continued advances in information technology make our world a truly global village, I believe there will come a time when war and armed conflict will [...]