Buddhism in daily life - Mindfulness in every day tasks

Bad becomes good Those who have gotten out of the habit of judging things, people and events do not necessarily have to read on. All others, still in the hamster wheel, poor souls, they should go deeper here. Buddha admonished his followers several times that nothing is as it appears to us, that everything comes anyway as it must come, that we can not even overlook how things are really connected....

The only true way The most adventurous views, the most controversial political standpoints, religious teachings from all over the world, moral wisdoms of all kinds, are popping up everywhere right now. Similarly as I make "advertisement" for the philosophy of Buddha, secrets of all kinds are fully advertised in the crisis time. Some know exactly about the consequences of global warming, others are...

The red-brown leaves In Buddhist temples, students and aspiring monks have to do a lot of work; even in monasteries, apprenticeship years are not master years. One of the tasks every autumn is to clean the grounds from the leaves. Since sweeping is very monotonous and boring, the young men seldom take up this laborious task. The colorful autumn leaves on the paths and buildings of the monastery lo...

Virtues Buddha exhorted virtuous living, values and content, cohesion and discipline. First of all, there are different types of virtues, the primarily important qualities (primary virtues), as well as a lower level, the so-called secondary virtues. Primary virtues are, for example, modesty, reverence and honesty, right cognition, thinking, speaking and acting, the components mentioned again and a...

Toxic Positivity Part 2 Read the first part of "Toxic Positivity" here. The question is always, how much good energy is right and important, and at what point is positivity toxic and too much? When does the trend of perpetual positive emotions then follow an unrealistic view of one's life, of one's circumstances? Especially in the social media it is a compulsion to present oneself "positively" (be...

Accept what is! To look at the daily madness, that is sometimes very demanding. Crises, dangers, illnesses, financial uncertainties, unstable political conditions, all in all very easy to lose perspective. It is very difficult to keep a portion of "lightness", not to wander through the days frightened and frustrated. But lightness, how do you bring it back into your life, what feels light, what do...

3 mindful steps 3 mindful steps to more control over life We all feel from time to time that we have no (or little) control over our lives. The awakened Buddhists know that there is no such thing as control, but the "feel-good" Buddhists among us, they still feel the need to put things in order. So how would it make sense, what would get us further? The first thing to say is that we shouldn't worr...

Toxic Positivity Part 1 Toxic Positivity is called the vicious circle of expectation. And as we know, not all expectations can come true, and then, when it doesn't, we are so disappointed. Life is so bad to us, everything always goes against us, it is like bewitched. So, or something like that, we complain when things don't go our way again. And what we do not expect everything, money, health, lov...

Learning to fail Those who can fail find inner strength. In psychology, a good ability to fail is called resilience. Here, mental health is maintained to such an extent that even in the case of serious or stressful events, the person concerned can cope well with the situation, has the ability not to lose mental balance. And this resilience can be learned, of course it is also partly hereditary, bu...

Game of life Is life just a game? If life is just a game, then what or who am I? The character, or the player? People have been philosophizing about life since early times. Who am I, where do I come from? Elementary questions that, at different times, have been answered very differently. If we imagine only for a moment that life is really only a game, then all fears immediately fall away, because...

Buddha explains meditation The Buddhist story goes that the Buddha's son, Rahula, asked his father questions about the technique of meditation. The young man was particularly interested in the breathing technique practiced by his father. Buddha gave him to understand that also with the breath the transitoriness of all being is in the foreground of his conception. Therefore, according to the teache...

Mental suffering Mental sufferings are becoming more and more widespread, they have many faces and effects, in every age group people are struggling with mental illnesses of all kinds. Depression, disorders, anxiety, gloomy thoughts and sadness fall like shadows on souls, the future becomes more and more a problem. Teenagers develop eating disorders, adults live in aggression, crises and burdens a...

Self-knowledge My father used to say, "Self-knowledge is the first step to improvement!" But what is self-knowledge, how important is it for me? To know oneself means to reflect about oneself, without reflection there is no knowledge. If you want to have a better life, you must first see your present life as it is, without embellishing it, without including your wishes and dreams, but simply ackno...

Stories from China A reader keeps asking for stories from my time in China. The first time I was there was almost 40 years ago, entered via Hong Kong, then continued by train until I arrived at Shaolin Temple after many stops. At that time I didn't understand a word of Chinese, but I had a translation computer with me (yes, that existed at that time), with which I managed more badly than well. On...

Live more consciously What does it mean to live more consciously? There is a lot of talk about "conscious living," but what does it really mean? Broadly speaking, a "conscious life" means deciding how to live life. Here I would like to refer to another article that deals with the nature of resolutions. So a "conscious life" is about personal goals, and of course about finding choices on the path,...

What do I want from life? How often do I hear that those around me are undecided, don't "know" exactly, haven't decided yet; many people let themselves drift, similar to a leaf in the wind. I know so many people who have been searching for so long, not really knowing what they want in life, wandering through life without purpose or goal. According to Buddha, it doesn't matter if we decide or not,...

The end of the evil conditions What are evil states? Well, a Buddhist will answer differently from a non-Buddhist, a young person will not answer like an older one, a resident of a warm country will answer differently from one from a cold region. According to the sublime, however, evil states are the dark inclinations, such as the inclination to aversion, or also the inclinations to lust or desire...

The chains Once the Perfect One spoke to his followers about the chains that the seeker has to overcome, which stir up uncertainty and doubt in the heart, leaving indecision and no confidence. First of all, there are the bad feelings towards the teacher, which are the first chain. Those who are not sure about the teacher, doubt his words, are undecided whether to follow him, do not see any confide...

The ignorance Buddhists know about the unwholesome effect of the three mind poisons, namely greed, hatred and delusion (ignorance). In the Buddhist wheel of life, the animals pig (ignorance), snake (hatred) and cock (greed) are assigned to these three mind poisons. But how do these poisons arise in our minds, why does ignorance rule mankind? Because it is ignorance that brings insecurity, from whi...

My aquarium Maybe some readers have noticed that I got an aquarium as a present from the Shaolin Temple Europe. The good spirit of the temple breeds ornamental fish there in the basement, which brings a very calming aspect. The aquarium is small, stands on my desk, again and again I enjoy the hustle and bustle, the little fish are "lively like fish in water", I enjoy their Buddha nature. At the sa...

Pear seeds do not become apples Directly from Buddha comes this wise sentence, which unfolds its full effect only with time, namely when "one" thinks about it. Pears and apples have certain similarities, grow on (fruit) trees, the seeds look pretty much the same, but still, some fruits are pears, but others are apples. They have a common basic consistency, but they taste completely different. But...

Is life just a dream? The text "Is life only a dream?" appeared on 3.4.2020 on my blog, here it goes to the original click. Especially to this text I have received many letters, also there are readers (virtual students), who always thematize this text, because it occupies them very much. Now a reader has revised this text and added his own remarks, which is why I publish his copy here (uncommented...

Experience mindfulness In our overstimulated, complicated and anxiety-filled world, we need to reflect on ourselves, learn to cope with fears, uncertainty and limitation. The Buddhist trend with "mindfulness" brings an enjoyable counterpoint that brings a change of attitude. Prosperity problems such as emotional or physical exhaustion, fatigue and sleep disorders have become almost normal, the hea...

The walking water bowl meditation Practicing mindfulness is one of those things. It is not so easy to concentrate on things, and then the cell phone rings, the children need something, the meal is not yet ready, the job is exhausting, the list can be continued forever. A very good way to train mindfulness is walking water bowl meditation, which by the way can also be used as pure meditation. A pla...

The power of the word When I was in a Buddhist temple some time ago a young man came up to me (for privacy reasons here all without details), he told me that because of me he had come here, because of my words (from the app and the podcasts) he now wants to live in a Buddhist temple, will become a monk. I was perplexed when I was so suddenly confronted with such an immediate consequence of my acti...