Buddhism in daily life - Mindfulness in every day tasks

The next king In a distant land lived a king who had several sons. He was getting on in years, it was time to settle his affairs. However, it was not yet clear to him which of his sons should succeed him, which would be the right, future king. So he decided to test his sons and give them a task; the one who would solve the problem in the best way would become his successor. In the morning, the kin...

Diseases Throughout history, so many diseases have afflicted mankind, from the plague to cancer, we have always been at the mercy of various afflictions. So it is now, a virus has captivated the world, we worry about our future. We know well about the deadly consequences of pathogens (such as the plague), the impact of disease on the economy of the time, and on the cultural aspects of that time, a...

Justice The smoke that was seen in the dream is now rising! Everywhere the dream of justice just appears again. But this dream is blurred, full of smoke, the wet breath of death is coming close to us now. What exactly is "justice", please? There I saw black, acrid smoke rising to the sky, the smell of revolution is in the air! "Left" against "right", "up" against "down", everyone against everyone,...

Compassion and Concentration A long time ago, a very young man came to a Buddhist temple. He had been sorely disappointed by life and had already suffered bitter blows of fate in his young years. When he stood before the abbot, he said: "My life has been terrible for me up to now, providence has played badly with me, suffering, sorrow and toil characterize my path, great calamity breaks over me ag...

Children A child behaves like those who brought him up! How do we raise our children, how do we think our actions are received by children? We all, the society, educate children, not "only" the parents or the school, education is a really big task for the general public. However, the "social" climate in Germany (and probably everywhere) is deteriorating, interactions are becoming hostile, characte...

The Goalless Gate The word "gateless gate" is a Buddhist paradoxical riddle. It corresponds to the Buddha's teaching that "only he can find who no longer seeks". In order to know what we are looking for, we need a clue at the beginning. This is "enlightenment", which is the basic theme of the Buddha. The Buddha did not write down any instructions for awakening, probably because "enlightenment" can...

Dreams TO BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS IS TO SPEND YOUR LIFE SLEEPING - CHINESE PROVERB - We should not live in the future, nor in the past, but in the here and now! This is what the historical Buddha taught us. Dreams in sleep are something very natural, sometimes beautiful, occasionally frightening, the experience in sleep varies from person to person. I never dream, my body finds so full rest in the...

The Gift In a distant Chinese village lived a well-known Buddhist Chan master, he had a small school, people revered him very much. His students liked to be near him, the master was educated, white, and his teachings were entertaining. The master's reputation went far into the surrounding area, his teaching speeches were known throughout the country. Also, despite his old age, he was still a maste...

Computer game Imagine life in 200 years, a new computer game has been launched. A simulation of the past, the game is set in our present time. The people of the future have merged with the computer, the machine has become a neural network that becomes one with the player. Put yourself completely in the future, the human being is now part of a make-believe world, the player acts in history, but par...

Buddhism and the flag The following story has been handed down from the patriarch Hui Neng: As a young man, he passed by a monastery, and two monks were standing in front of a flagpole, arguing. One monk said to the other, "The flag is moving." The other monk replied: "No, the wind is moving". Here we see how we think, our style, "yes or no", "black or white". One monk sees the flag moving. The ot...

The bell Why do we find bells in almost all Buddhist temples? When we strike a bell, where does the noise, the people, the sound come from? Was the sound in the bell? Or in the clapper that strikes the bell? And where does the sound go, does it disappear into nothingness? In Buddhist temples the bells have a great importance, so the big singing bowls call the monks to prayer, are supposed to fill...

Just do it "I hear and forget, I see and remember, I do and understand." - Chinese Proverb - Original: 我听见就忘记了，我看见就记住了，我做了就了解了。 "Wǒ tīngjiàn jiù wàngjìle, wǒ kànjiàn jiù jìzhùle, wǒ zuòle jiù liǎojiěle." Talking about it is nice, then doing it is much better! What great plans we have, good New Year's resolutions are talked about again every New Year's Eve, but what of them...

Yesterday is over Yesterday is irretrievably behind us, yesterday is history! Yesterday exists only in our memory, has passed, what happened, we can no longer change. Getting angry about the past doesn't get us anywhere. Always the same questions about yesterday: Why, why, for what reason, for what, why, why, why? Useless topics, which justify the suffering, to which there are no answers, and cert...

Who is right? Long ago, in a Buddhist temple, two monks argued about the content of a sacred text. Each wanted to be right, his own view seemed only logical to him, the opinion of the monk's brother as wrong. All day long the words went back and forth, sometimes in a matter-of-fact form, occasionally also disparaging, but in the matter nothing moved, each monk wanted to be right, to assert himself...

Satisfaction from suffering? Can it be that some people also derive satisfaction from their sufferings? And if so, why? A Chan master in ancient China traveled through the countryside, from one village to the next, always along paths in nature. At a crossroads he met an old man, they greeted each other, the wanderer kept saying, "I am so thirsty, I am so thirsty"! The master gave him to drink, alm...

The sound The following story is told of a Japanese Chan (Zen) master: During his travels through Asia, the teacher visited various monasteries, temples and many other Chan (Zen) masters. He shared his experiences, views and thoughts, experienced incredible moments, impressions and incidents, for years he traveled around as a simple man. His reputation at home was impeccable, people were waiting f...

Fear Fear is going around the country right now; worries about work, will I have enough money, will I keep my standard of living, will we have enough to eat, what will happen, how will we manage after the crisis? People who have been resting on the comfortable illusion of a perfect world are suddenly waking up, competition is in full swing. In the company employees are dismissed, hopefully not me,...

The cut nails Just now they were a part of me, of my body, now they are not, I cut them off, the nails. Then I no longer worry about them, they are out of my sight, end up in the trash. Just like these nails, I can also "cut off" my thoughts, put them away, they are then also no longer a part of me, simply turn off the worries and troubles, dispose of them, put them on file, yes, that is possible,...

The most important hour is the present moment What all could we do, now, in this moment, which things to do, which tasks to finish? "Tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today, all lazy people say"! - after Christian Felix Weiße - German writer 1726 - 1804 And which person is the most important? Always the one we are dealing with at the moment! And why is that so? Why does only the moment count? Only who...

Life artists are also artists Become a life artist! Easier said than done? NO It is only up to your inner attitude, the way you see things, assess, act with your environment, how you see your life and your person, your "I", yourself and thus represent it to the outside. In other words, it is only up to you! Hopeless situations, unsolvable problems, trouble here and problems there, no money, maybe...

The realization must grow He who wants to recognize right, must have doubted before in the right way. - Aristotle - An organic abstraction of being brings an eloquent language, gigantic thoughts, a lot of questions, questions about questions! Sad, too hectic, everything is going too fast? Inquiries to my ego, doubts, how can this be? And anyway, why, illusory comfort, perverse standstill in the so...

The new disciple Once upon a time, a well-known Chan master lived in a simple hut, he was known everywhere precisely because of his wisdom, his kindness knew no bounds. When one day a thief stood in the middle of his hut and shouted "money or life", the master reacted calmly, did not let himself be intimidated, and said to the thief: "here on the table is my money, take what you need, but leave me...

When do you give up suffering? Buddha said again and again that life is suffering. And what do we suffer, again and again, from rejection, from failure, from too little of this and too much of that, pain follows pain, sorrow and worry affect our moods, again and again we have sorrowful experiences. Perhaps the following story can illustrate well for you the words of the historical Buddha. A Buddhi...

It's your own fault! Your wound may not be your fault, but the healing is clearly your responsibility. Everyone is responsible for his own life; he shapes his future by his thoughts, words and actions. This concept enables the conscious building of impressions that lead to happiness, avoid future suffering. According to the historical Buddha, at the beginning there is always thinking as the cause...

People are donkeys In a distant village in the Chinese province once lived a farmer. With his sons he farmed the meager fields, the daughters helped their mother in the house. On the farm lived many animals, chickens, pigs and a donkey, with which the farmer transported his goods to the city to sell them. Sometimes his youngest son accompanied him, the older ones were needed on the farm. Usually t...