In my quest to understand Zen I thought like many people that there was a truth you had to understand or an answer to grasp. I learned just how wrong I was and in doing so learned what Zen and Buddhism offers us. Zen does it’s thing by undermining peoples expectations, destroying their sense of […]
The Emptiness of Buddhism itself
One of the strangest things about Buddhism is the idea of Emptiness or Sunyata. The idea that there’s no inherent existence in any thing or phenomena. All events and objects are a nexus of different influences coming together, in a constant state of transformation. When I wanted to try and understand Buddhism I tried, as […]
Zen is an Intimacy with the Moment
In my journey into Buddhism and Zen, I found an odd paradox that at its most basic there is not much to learn. Because there’s nothing really to grasp as such, no mysterious or secret knowledge to attain or grasp. No bedrock of truth to build a life upon. Instead, it’s the philosophy letting go […]
Explaining the Buddhist Two Truth doctrine
Absolute truth is the true nature of the relative. Relative truth is the manifestation of the absolute’ Lions Roar The Two Truth Doctrine is another idea that is central to understanding Buddhism. Whilst western thinkers look for a single unifying truth, Buddhists accept that there are two truths to understanding existence. This doctrine comes from […]
Truth: Facts or comfort?
‘The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt’ Bertrand Russell Most of us when we want to answers tend to avoid doing the hard work because it’s hard work. This the case I see with the big answers to life. We often accept the answers […]
Buddhism is Spiritual Minimalism
One of the things I’ve noticed about Buddhism is the philosophy doesn’t offer answers to the big questions. Whereas other religions strut around claiming there is a truth, and they have it. Why we are here? Why is the cosmos the way it is and no some other way? (You know the whole Ultimate Truth […]