Meditation and Self Improvement

Meditation in Russia

Introduction One of my purposes in coming to Russia was to see what interest there is in meditation practice. Of course, the vast majority of people do not practice meditation of any kind, despite it being available through different traditions. I discussed this in my article, “Why Sit”. https://bumblebuddhist.com/why-sit/   Visiting Moscow’s Zen Community Before my arrival, I asked two of my friends, Nellie in Volgograd, and Tanya in Yalta, to see if they could set up a workshop or two. When I arrived in Moscow in early May, I stayed with my friend Yulia, a Zen student. While I …

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Nietzsche meets Samantabhadra| Beyond Good and Evil–Envisioning Universal Good

Nietzsche Meets Samantabhadra–The Way Forward Recently, a group of us were sharing thoughts, observations and feelings about the current world situation, which any normal person would recognize as a crisis. And a crisis that seems to be deepening. So it got me to thinking about two approaches to understanding and hopefully, finding a way out of the crisis. To this end, I referred to my earlier reading and inspiration of the German 19th Century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, whose book, Beyond Good and Evil shaped my thinking as a 20 year old.  Nietzsche introduced the idea of the “Superman”, with the …

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10 Tips on Zen Practice in Daily Life

  Introduction—Can Zen Practice Help Us in ‘the Last 500 Years’? In today’s tumultuous world, many people are asking if we are facing ‘the End Times’. Not only do people in the Christian world wondering about this, but even in Buddhism, there is a view that we are in ‘the Last 500 Years’ after the life of the Buddha, who lived 2500 years ago. Despite our fears and the many obstacles that the media and social pressures inflict on us, Zen practice says that we should “Do Good, Don’t Do Evil, and Purify Your Mind”. Regardless of what the time …

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Zen practice in zen Buddhism teaches how to work out your own salvation

Zen Buddhism for the New and Curious

Zen Buddhism for the New and Curious   While I spend a lot of time on geopolitics, I see the world through the lens of my experience as a Zen Buddhist practitioner, going back 50 years. I am of the opinion, that both our own personal and interpersonal problems can improve with meditation practice, I think it can also help in the world situation. Can you imagine what would happen (yeah, not likely but still) if world leaders sat down and meditated on what they’re doing, calming down and letting go of their inflated egos? Every time we calm our …

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Eric sitting in front of an old Chinese temple

Why Sit?

What Is This Thing About Sitting Meditation?   Sometimes I wonder what it is that makes me sit and practice, and after all, why lots of people throughout history have done so. Most people, especially Westerners think that meditation is something weird or even dangerous. Years ago, I visited a community not too far from my university. This was a time of burgeoning spirituality in 1970.  I was talking with one of the members of the community and when I told him I was interested in meditation, he replied that meditation was a sin. Since when has breathing while being …

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