Why the practice is important

Maybe intellectually people know that they should live in the 

present moment, but the habit energy that has been there for 

a long time is always pushing them to rush around, so they have 

lost their capacity to be in the present moment in order to lead 

their life deeply. That is why the practice is important, and talking 

is not enough. You have to practice enough to really stop your 

running around so that you can establish yourself in the present 

moment. That is the very beginning of the practice: stopping. 

Stopping, looking deeply, and finding happiness and liberation—

that is the Buddhist path.

- Thich Nhat Hanh
(Artwork: Alla Tsank)

A soldier-turned-Buddhist Monk on mission to spread ‘Mahakaruna’

by Rajendra Diwe, The Hitavada, 13 Feb 2017 Ladakh, India -- ‘Peace keeping force’ is the joke of century. Peace can’t be achieved with any force, but unconditional love, great compassion and tolerance can bring peace. Sanghasena the monk of international repute was talking to ‘The Hitavada’ at the office of Awaz TV Channel in Bajaj Nagar on Sunday.

We need deep looking

I said before that if we have not made any mistakes, there is no way for us to learn. So that is why to look deeply, and to see the nature of the act, the nature of inter-being of the act in the light of non-self, we see that that is a kind of act, that is a kind of speech that has created suffering… The moment when you see that this is the lack of skillfulness on your part and on the part of many ancestors who have transmitted the seed to you, then that is already enlightenment, that is already meditation, that is already deep looking. And out of that enlightenment you are motivated by a desire that you would not like to do that again. So that desire, that aspiration is a strong energy, a strong energy that can make you alive, that can help you to protect yourself, to protect all the future generations within you, and that insight is very liberating. And if you know that you are not going to do the same thing again, you are already free, and your ancestors are also free, and there is no need to be caught in your feeling of culpability.

- Thich Nhat Hanh
(Photo: Stephen Emerson)

Metta

The Theravadins talk about anattā (not-self) and the Mahayanists talk about shunyatā (emptiness); but they are referring to the same realization. That is, one investigates and sees that the ego, the neuroses that we have – thoughts, greed, hatred and delusion – are all anattā. There is no self to be found, just empty conditions that arise out of the void and pass back into it with no remainder.

Monk Spreads Buddhist Philosophy With 140-Character Tweets

by LAKSHMI SINGH, NPR, February 11, 2017

Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim became Twitter-famous with his tweets about faith and mindfulness. His book, a compilation of tweets, went viral in South Korea, and the American edition is out now.

Seoul, South Korea -- It's a tale as old as Twitter.

In a spare moment maybe in the elevator or at work or waiting in line at the grocery store, you open up a social media app on your phone and suddenly the floodgates are open, a deluge of memes, news alerts, complaints, annoyances - not exactly a place to find your zen, unless perhaps you've discovered Haemin Sunim's page. The Buddhist monk is a sensation in South Korea where his daily 140-character tweets promote peace and mindfulness on the otherwise hectic social media platform.

Haemin Sunim's tweets are available offline, too, in his book "The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down." South Korean book sales have taken off with his ideas in paperback as viral as his tweets. Now the books hit the U.S. market. Haemin Sunim is with me now from the Buddhist radio station in Seoul. Thank you for joining us.

Skill in Questions - How the Buddha Taught (2010), p.117-118

"As we survey the range of questions deserving analytical answers, we see that they highlight five important points in the Buddha’s teaching that are often misunderstood or underappreciated at present.

Dhammapada 167-169

167

Don't associate with lowly qualities.
Don't consort with heedlessness.
Don't associate with wrong views.
Don't busy yourself with the world.

168-169

Get up! Don't be heedless.
Live the Dhamma well.
One who lives the Dhamma
sleeps with ease
in this world & the next.

Live the Dhamma well.
Don't live it badly.
One who lives the Dhamma
sleeps with ease
in this world & the next.