The concept of “Joy” often appears in Buddhist sutras. But this Joy doesn’t come from outside us. People usually feel joy because they got something they wanted, or someone gave them or did something for them that they liked. But these are joys that come from outside us. At Tao
Self-identity and otherness, holding ego and caring for others, self-actualization and others’ happiness. These are my concerns these days. To say it more simply, “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” I thought this was clear, but it wasn’t. Actually, I thought I knew this and was
“The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” Then
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34). The cross is a symbol of sin in Christianity. What did Jesus mean by “take up your cross”? Think of it as a
If you feel you are stuck, with no way to escape, please keep looking for hope. I guarantee that there is hope out there waiting for you to find it. This time of COVID, lockdown, fake news, people monitoring each other and judging others if they don’t do what they
As humans, we selectively perceive only what we can see, only what is convenient to us. And even though less than 1 percent of the world’s information is visible, we look only at what we want to see. We don’t even recognize the world as it is, and we don’t
The hopes and wishes we have are usually pretty shallow. We usually wish for what we want, something convenient for us. But maybe God/Buddha’s love is not so straightforward. It’s like when we were children and our parents made us eat broccoli, carrots, green peppers, etc. — vegetables or something
“Your Sense of Wonder” Sometimes the phrase “sense of wonder” is used in science fiction, and it’s also part of the title of Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder, but here I’m using it in its literary sense, to mean a kind of curiosity. What I mean is, it’s
“Don’t Let Your Brain Freeze — Keep Thinking!” Buddhism teaches that if someone stops thinking, that state is called “Dark” and it means “no wisdom.” Buddhist practice is to keep thinking, and that wisdom dwells within you. But these days, people are “freezing” their brains. They’ve stopped thinking. And that’s
This is a continuation of my last blog. In my previous blog, I talked about the way acceptance is taught in Christianity: “You are good as you are.” This is used as the foundation for self-confidence. There are so many people, especially in North America, who don’t have self-confidence, or
The concept of “Joy” often appears in Buddhist sutras. But this Joy doesn’t come from outside us. People usually feel joy because they got something they wanted, or someone gave them or did something for them that they liked. But these are joys that come from outside us. At Tao
Self-identity and otherness, holding ego and caring for others, self-actualization and others’ happiness. These are my concerns these days. To say it more simply, “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” I thought this was clear, but it wasn’t. Actually, I thought I knew this and was
“The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” Then
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34). The cross is a symbol of sin in Christianity. What did Jesus mean by “take up your cross”? Think of it as a
If you feel you are stuck, with no way to escape, please keep looking for hope. I guarantee that there is hope out there waiting for you to find it. This time of COVID, lockdown, fake news, people monitoring each other and judging others if they don’t do what they
As humans, we selectively perceive only what we can see, only what is convenient to us. And even though less than 1 percent of the world’s information is visible, we look only at what we want to see. We don’t even recognize the world as it is, and we don’t
The hopes and wishes we have are usually pretty shallow. We usually wish for what we want, something convenient for us. But maybe God/Buddha’s love is not so straightforward. It’s like when we were children and our parents made us eat broccoli, carrots, green peppers, etc. — vegetables or something
“Your Sense of Wonder” Sometimes the phrase “sense of wonder” is used in science fiction, and it’s also part of the title of Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder, but here I’m using it in its literary sense, to mean a kind of curiosity. What I mean is, it’s
“Don’t Let Your Brain Freeze — Keep Thinking!” Buddhism teaches that if someone stops thinking, that state is called “Dark” and it means “no wisdom.” Buddhist practice is to keep thinking, and that wisdom dwells within you. But these days, people are “freezing” their brains. They’ve stopped thinking. And that’s
This is a continuation of my last blog. In my previous blog, I talked about the way acceptance is taught in Christianity: “You are good as you are.” This is used as the foundation for self-confidence. There are so many people, especially in North America, who don’t have self-confidence, or
