Buddhism in daily life - Mindfulness in every day tasks

The emergency As in every religion (or worldview), there are also places in Buddhism to which people go on pilgrimage to connect with the special spirituality of the area, to express wishes and ask for fulfilment, or simply to search for their own self in peace and quiet. On one of these pilgrimages, a pious man once crossed an inhospitable desert, the air was dry, the path dusty, the destination...

The lottery win Imagine that a friend of yours had won the jackpot in the lottery without knowing about it, perhaps because the ticket can no longer be found or he has simply forgotten about it. Now your friend would be a millionaire without having the slightest idea of the process, without wasting a thought on it, he would not have to think about it, he would not have to tell anyone about it, he...

In search of the truth In Buddhist temples, people like to tell each other stories, since cell phones, laptops or tablets are usually not allowed. I find the story about the search for "the truth" particularly beautiful. Once upon a time there was a powerful king who had already grown old. He had a beautiful daughter who could hardly resist offers, but he decided to give her as a wife only to the...

The Spiritual Guide Part 4 Have you heard the first parts about the "spiritual guides" here on my podcast? Those in search of a spiritual teacher are particularly susceptible to cults. At first glance, cults make sense, of course, as they use values such as community, harmony, cohesion, and a sense of belonging to attract souls who feel alone and abandoned. Cults also approach people, speak direct...

The Spiritual Guide Part 3 Have you heard the first parts about the "spiritual guides" here on my podcast? Whoever thinks that one will find a great, gifted master (such as Buddha, Mohammad or Jesus Christ was) only if he/she searches long enough, misses the peculiarity of such exceptional personalities, who appear once every millennia, then retain a voice in the reverberations of history. The con...

The Spiritual Guide Part 2 Have you heard the first parts about the "spiritual guides" here on my podcast? How to recognize a good spiritual teacher, after all, is not so easy. For my part, I see the Buddha as one of the greatest spiritual teachers in human history, whose philosophy has greatly influenced and impressed me. But now we live in a confusing and also frightening time, so many people ne...

Sleep disorders Many people suffer from sleep disorders. Either they have trouble falling asleep, or they can't sleep through the night, many sufferers are tired during the day, or they suffer from several complaints at once. Occasionally not sleeping well seems to be a lesser evil compared to real disorders, but for some people sleep disorders determine their entire life. Who does not know it occ...

The Spiritual Guide What is meant by a spiritual leader? All religions, philosophies and worldviews have leaders, masterminds, gurus or priests. Almost always there is a person (or group) dedicated to transmitting the teachings (such as me, who brings the words of Buddha into the present). In Buddhism there is also a special connection between teacher and student, because the teaching is to be pas...

The perfect teaching Embracing impermanence in full consciousness, we let ourselves fall "into" the Buddha's teaching, for every second of life is precious, no moment comes back, we should, according to the teacher of all teachers, simply not waste time on trivial distractions, but keep focusing on the essential. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? Questions upon questions! How do yo...

Animal experiments Do you know how many animals have to give their lives for animal experiments every year? The numbers are disgusting, an unbelievable 3 million animals suffer year after year in Germany alone. Unbelievable sums are converted with this animal murder, each quantity of national funds blown. In spite of broad resistance in the population, the politicians, who are often "supported" by...

The future In a small town in ancient China there was a very famous temple. One of the monks was very old, but the story went that he had "psychic" powers and could "tell fortunes". Since he was also frail, he usually stayed in his room, from where he watched the world through a small window. His days of interpreting the future had long since passed, and he only wanted to spend his old age in the...

This world is a brutal places The world is a master of horror, but also of goodness! The world takes its own course. A glorious day is awakening in the East. Will we see each other again tomorrow? We do not know. You do not like it? Never will the son be the new king, who will rule? Open the gates, the gateless gate is invisible. Once he is king! What have we promised? We are tired, what do we wan...

Beginning It was a long way to this bench, which was placed under the trees in front of the buildings for the visitors of Shaolin Monastery. Just opposite the monumental entrance area, with a direct view to the temple door, an impressive view. This is where I wanted to go, now I was sitting right in front of it, the world famous martial arts monastery, the center of so many kung fu movies with fly...

The inner critic Many people call the voice in their head a critic who makes their life difficult. For Buddhists, however, it is clear that this critic is the ego, which constantly nags at us. All day long the ego nags away, it stirs up worries and fears, it criticizes us. In the Buddhist view, the ego is not a critic, but a cause of our sufferings. It is important (not only for Buddhists, by the...

The universe and us Our spiritual expectations are great, we like to talk about the universe, we occasionally see ourselves as part of it, but we are immensely afraid of the infinite vastness, of the areas that no human being has ever entered, at least that's what we think. The pure being is already a mystery, we, our ego, the personality that represents us, the ego, nothing of it we understand ev...

Self-sabotage Who doesn't know it, the stupid feeling when you stand in your own way. Sometimes this even happens intentionally, self-sabotage happens more often than we think, just when thoughts make your life harder. For example, when we say YES but think NO, we do everything possible to sabotage the YES, even at the risk of harming ourselves. Such behavior is harmful, and not really appropriate...

Gifts to my self part 4 Have you already read the first parts of my series "Gifts to my ego" click. Read on here: 14. friendships If you really want to give yourself a gift, you should cherish your friendships, take care of your friends, their concerns, their lives. But you should also build up a friendship with your own self, look at yourself in the mirror with goodwill, consciously pay attention...

Gifts to my self part 3 Have you already read the first parts of my series "Gifts to my ego" click. Click here to continue: 10. meditation A special gift to my own self is meditation, which I practice daily. Here breathing, mindfulness, health, peace, happiness and extreme well-being unite to a spiritual unity. Every day is then a good day, because with such a gift it is possible to be pleasant, t...

Do not take anything „personally“ How to stop taking things so personally - and - and live a better life that way! Why is this happening to me? I'm just unlucky! Everything is conspiring against me! I'm such a poor sheep! Is that so? NO That's exactly not how it is, no human being is just unlucky (or lucky), there are also no conspiracies against us, who or what should be conspiring, please, and w...

Birds A pair of blackbirds has been breeding on my balcony, yesterday the little ones hatched. Five mini birds in my flowerpot, beaks constantly open, some dried grass as a base, mom almost always sits on it, keeps her children warm, dad is looking for worms in the garden, brings almost endless supply. At first we (my girlfriend and I) thought that birds had been looking for food in the flowerpot,...

Gifts to my self part 2 Have you heard the first part of my series "Gifts to Me" in one of the last episodes? Today it continues: 6. health Without health everything is nothing, no possession can please, no closeness can make happy, no fun can be funny, because an illness brings further, additional suffering. Buddha exhorted us to understand the body as a vehicle for attaining enlightenment, which...

Are you ready to heal? Before you start healing someone, ask them if they are willing to give up the things that have made them sick. - Hippocrates - physician of the antiquity - 460 to 370 before the year zero A sentence that could also have come from Buddha. For Buddhism, according to the great teacher, is about refraining from the behaviors that make us suffer. But most people don't want to do...

Gifts to my self part 1 In order to lead a mindful and conscious life you should give yourself sufficient "self" gifts. Such gifts to your own self are invaluable for your mood and well-being. Especially the "feel-good Buddhists" among us become aware of the path of the Buddha in this way, then in the course of time find the appropriate mindset to penetrate more deeply into the teachings of the te...

The subjective point of view We all always have a reason for our actions, every behavior builds on many causes, according to Buddha I speak here of the law of cause and effect. We know that every action also brings a reaction, which is why we should have understanding for people (and their many reasons). Instead of reacting in a huff, aggressively or emotionally, we should ask ourselves why the pe...

Become more relaxed Especially from the group of "feel-good Buddhists" you hear again and again that you want to become more serene. But that is easy to say and not easy to do. A thousand things happen around us, and one or the other of us quickly loses his or her temper when everything goes wrong again in traffic, traffic jams up, or you get "cut off". Or the boss whistles at you first thing in t...