Bodhisattvas, “enlightening beings,” embody the core values of Mahayana Buddhism. The Bodhisattva ideal is what fuels a Zen practitioner’s approach to life. The talk on September 30th will answer some important questions: How did the Bodhisattva ideal emerge? What are their great vows? And, finally, who are today’s Bodhisattvas and can that include us? Rev. […]
A conversation from ancient China opens up for us a question about the relationship between the world in our mind that grapples with global issues and the world of our hands that do small useful tasks. Do we ignore the small when thinking big and ignore the big when doing small?’ Can we find a […]
Drowning in today’s raucous stream of words, how do we find a way to speak that is courteous yet truthful? In the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha addresses this issue: “And what, bhikkus, is right speech? Abstinence from false speech, abstinence from divisive speech, abstinence from harsh speech, abstinence from idle chatter: this is called right speech.” […]
From a Buddhist perspective, this is the great conundrum of our lives: we are simultaneously one vast living organism and a distinct living person. And we are vastly more comfortable with those whom we perceive to be like ourselves, at least on the surface. There are powerful barriers to recognizing that we and others share the same universal […]