Buddhism in daily life - Mindfulness in every day tasks

WHAT WOULD BUDDHA DO NOW? If you are not sure of something, think; what would the Buddha do in this case, how would the holy man judge the situation, what conclusions would the teacher of all teachers draw, how would he act? Do you know indecision? You are at a crossroads and cannot decide to go right, left, straight ahead, or even back? How many such junctions do we pass every day, so many things...

Nirvana is a state of mind The average Central European usually has little contact with the teachings of the teacher of all teachers, however the word "Nirvana" has entered the vernacular. Mostly it is used "wrongly", but since the knowledge of Buddhism is sketchy at best, this is not even noticed. I send you to "Nirvana", which stands for the great unknown land where I wish the people who "get on...

The detachment from being Again and again the question comes up what exactly Chan (Zen) is. Generally speaking, Chan is the very personal practice of self-discovery, self-observation. This sounds very simple at first, but in practice it can be accompanied by strong distortions. First of all, not everyone likes to see what they find, and secondly, it is difficult to focus the mind, to get to the po...

Like a comfortable shirt Buddha exhorted his followers to wear the ego like a comfortable, loose shirt (or dress). Like such a snug shirt, we should also "wear" our Buddhist practice, not narrow-minded and too focused on the subject, but loose and relaxed, not wanting to be too Buddhist. When the teaching of the great teacher flows quietly and calmly, we are in the middle, everything moves in comp...

Almost We (my girlfriend and/or I) almost missed three flights in a row, it was absolutely impossible to catch them, and yet we did. No matter what we would have done, under no circumstances would it have made a difference, it was not in our sphere of influence to make a difference here. We had no influence whatsoever, the events rolled over us, and yet the stories turned out "well" for us, at lea...

The "Happiness" Workout Part 2 Have you already listened to the first parts of the topic "Happiness" in the last editions of the podcast? C. What are you grateful for? Are you even aware of your good fortune? Do you know how many people die every day, fall seriously ill, lose a loved one, or face other, serious problems? Just today? It's in the millions, it's not a matter of course to be alive, to...

The "Happiness" Workout Or: How you can become happy with very simple exercises. According to Buddha, "happiness" is a matter of observation, depending on how we look at things. The motto of this blog is "Buddhism in everyday life", the purpose of the matter is first to get the readers and listeners to a form of "feel-good Buddhism", and then (in a further step) to familiarize them with the core m...

The temple garden To everyone who likes to hear it (and to everyone else, too) I suggest creating an imaginary temple garden in your mind palace, where you can retreat in stressful times. Imagine a wonderful garden, just the way you like it, the flowers you like, the trees you find beautiful, with an enchanting lake in the middle, on the shores of which stands a small but beautiful temple. Walk th...

Loving yourself more also requires some self-love exercises. First of all, ask yourself what you like to do. Do you like to go for a walk? Or do you cook particularly well? Every person has activities that he/she prefers, that are easy to do, and that make you feel good. What do you like to do? Write down 3 such things on a small Post-It, hang up the note so that you can see it well. If you find y...

Whoever wants to find more self-love should learn to see life through "rose-colored" glasses, to see the positive side of things. My father used to say, "Son, even the worst event also contains something good, never is something only bad, but also never only good." Well, he certainly spoke with great wisdom there, only I didn't want to believe that at the time. No matter how bad something may be a...

We have to silence the monkeys in our heads, otherwise the ego will drive us crazy. All day long the head cinema runs, constantly new thoughts are played, there to come to rest seems impossible. Some people have already reached the next stage, the monkeys in the head have become a threat to mental health, many of the mental illnesses go back to the original head cinema. Sure, if "one" thinks about...

Today, an incredible number of people in this world call themselves "Buddhist", but without knowing the contents of the great teacher's teachings. They are mostly attracted by the statue of the Indian prince meditating peacefully, without understanding why, perhaps not even giving it a thought. The Buddha's teaching has spread as "peaceful" and "mindful", further knowledge is hardly present in the...

The world has already "seen" many religions, beliefs came and they also went again, depending on the spirit of the times and the level of education, man's will is his kingdom of heaven. Every spiritual teaching has (and had) its spokesmen, masterminds, priests. No matter what they were called, guru or monk, abbot or priest, basically a leadership level formed over time, which gave the direction (a...

Have you already listened to the first parts of the topic "Self-love" in the last editions of the podcast? To achieve more self-love you should continue to find out when you like yourself. Everyone likes themselves occasionally, but also has those pithy moments when they dislike themselves so much. So, what did you do really "well" today? When have you been really in tune with the universe lately?...

To let a person into one's life, that requires a lot of energy, a lot of courage and almost unlimited confidence. It is not necessarily a Buddhist approach to sleep around, to constantly change partners, according to the philosophy of the sublime, a moral life is right. If you can stand a week with a person, you can also spend a month with the person, even a year, and in consequence then a whole l...

In the last podcast you could listen to the first episode of self-love, today it continues. To love oneself, "one" must continue to understand oneself well, to make an effort to get to the true core, to look behind the self-chosen role. The great teacher spoke of the realities behind the perceived reality, because we humans are rarely ready to part with our illusions. Why do other people's stingin...

Once when Buddha was with his followers in the park, a disciple asked, "Lord, how can we control anger?" Buddha answered with a story. He said, "Whoever hears this tale will have his anger under control, will no longer lose control." You wanderers hear, "Long ago, a quarrelsome woman lived in a village. Even over trifles she became terribly angry; in her anger she cursed under her breath, used all...

Self-doubt is widespread, even self-hatred is becoming more and more prevalent in all classes, people don't have it easy, these are "hard" times. Of course, you have to look at yourself critically, but peace with your own self is also Buddhist, Buddha taught that we should not harm any living being, including ourselves. You don't have to love yourself, but at least accept yourself as you are, at l...

Samsara is a Sanskrit word that means "constant wandering". It points to the cycle of rebirths, to the perpetual succession of birth, old age, illness and death, the constant becoming and passing away, the cycle that first establishes suffering. We suffer because we can't hold anything, because all clinging is useless, nothing belongs to us, we can't keep anything, because everything is transient....

This is how I have heard! One day, the exalted Buddha spoke to the beggars (this is how monks are referred to in Theravada Buddhism): "You beggars." They replied, "Venerable sir." "unwholesome states of mind, such as greed, hatred, and delusion, arise from sense pleasures, for these are delusive and false. For disciples, these unwholesome states of mind are an obstacle to overcome in order to let...

It is very difficult for man to get "enough", always something more, more money, more health, more of life, more love, more sex, more of all kinds of things. When is it ever "enough", why do we always want "more", where does the road lead to? And who "needs" all the things he/she acquires? The trend to minimalism comes up again and again, especially in the consumer society, because deep inside peo...

The teaching of the Exalted One speaks of impermanence, which is the cause of our sufferings, because from the fact that we cannot keep anything, our attachments follow. The knowledge of the future is hard, any moment can be the last, it is very difficult not to sink into gloom. The Perfect One has left us his philosophy as a compensation, which attunes us to the "enlightenment", so in the rest li...

Even love can kill, if things get out of hand, then anything can happen. I was given an aquarium as a gift at the Shaolin Temple Europe near Kaiserslautern, a small one, with plants and a snail as the only inhabitant. The good spirit of the temple breeds ornamental fish in the basement of the facility, I was taken and given a gift I was specifically told that the aquarium was not suitable for fish...

When I remember my youth, there used to be significantly more insects. More bees, more mosquitoes, more beetles, there was more of everything. A mindful approach to all living things requires that we also consider insects to be fully-fledged living beings, and that we protect them (if at all possible). Insects are by far the most diverse animals, there are an incredible number of species. Some are...

Many practitioners think very highly of transcendental meditation, and it is reported that this form of meditation is very effective. This form of meditation is very good for me, within a short time I reach a calm state of consciousness. You can practice sitting, standing or lying down. The transcendental meditation is a method "invented" by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which is also tra...