Taoism is NOT Buddhism: 4 differences

(Tao Temple) China's Taoism vs. India's Buddhism explained: 4 differences that really matter

(Tao Temple) ZEN: What happens when Taoism and Buddhism collide?

Burning monk fights fire with fire: Vietnam War

Why did BURNING MONK sit so still for self-immolation? The story of Thích Quảng Đức

 

We'll kill that g**k for imperial US corporations

(Buddha's Wisdom) May 1, 2026: 🔥 The photo the world has never forgotten during the imperial U.S. War on peaceful Buddhist Vietnam: The Burning Monk, Ven. Thich Quang Duc, became one of the most haunting images of the Vietnam War era.

• Buddhism in Vietnam
• [Worship of Amitabha Cosmic Buddha (Pure Land Rebirth Dharani) rather than following the enlightened advice of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni born Prince Siddhartha Gautama]
• Buddhism in Cambodia
• Buddhism in Laos
• Buddhism in Southeast Asia

On June 11, 1963, he sat down in a Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) intersection and didn't move. But behind the famous photograph is a deeper Buddhist story about:

• persecution,
• nonviolent protest,
• meditative stillness (samadhi), and
• the monk whose final act shook the Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem regime and forced the world to look at Vietnam differently.

We had to kill Buddhists to rule by force!

It was the visible shape of a lifetime of Pure Land Buddhist practice, pressed all the way to the edge. This is the untold story behind the most powerful photograph of the 20th century and what Buddhism actually teaches about the mind that met that morning.

🔍 DISCOVER:

• The real story behind Thich Quang Duc, the Burning Monk
• How Buddhist persecution in South Vietnam led to the 1963 Buddhist crisis
• How one photograph traveled from Saigon to Washington DC and changed global opinion...
• and why U.S. President John F. Kennedy stopped mid-sentence when he saw it at breakfast
• The heart relic that didn't burn...and what Vietnamese Buddhist tradition says it means
• How Rage Against the Machine, Czech copycat Jan Palach [like many Tibetan lamas under communist Chinese oppression], and Dependent Origination connect one Saigon intersection to six decades of history
• What Buddhism teaches about compassion, courage, and meeting suffering without hatred 🙏

Fight war [the state] not [its] wars

If this story moves viewers — subscribe. This channel exists to tell the stories Buddhism rarely gets credit for: historically grounded, honestly told [with a moving AI voice that only rarely mispronounces words], without the self-help packaging. New videos every week.

⚠️ CONTENT ADVISORY! This video discusses the dying [by suicide] of Thích Quảng Đức (June 11, 1963) as a historical and Buddhist educational subject. While no graphic footage is shown, the topic involves dying, political persecution, and religious violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Who sells weapons to the world? War profiteers

This video is produced with deep respect for Thích Quảng Đức, the Vietnamese Buddhist community, and the historical record.

• War Is a Racket (just ask U.S. Gen. Butler)

📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING (affiliate links)

Primary Sources: — Thích Quảng Đức's final letter, June 10, 1963 (translated versions available via Vietnam Buddhist archives) — Malcolm Browne, Muddy Boots and Red Socks (1993) — firsthand account of June 11 1963 https://amzn.to/4980Unr — David Halberstam, The Making of a Quagmire (1965) — eyewitness testimony https://amzn.to/4cLJNKE Buddhist Texts: — The Dhammapada (especially Chapter 1 — the Yamaka Vagga) — Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra — foundational Pure Land text on Amitābha's vow — Larger and Smaller Pure Land Sutras — the practice of nianfo/nembutsu 

HISTORICAL AND SCHOLARLY

— Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire (1967) — written in direct response to the Buddhist crisis https://amzn.to/4cWRegz — Edward Miller, Misalliance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and the Fate of South Vietnam (2013) https://amzn.to/4eEY2ST — Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie (1988) — broader Vietnam War context https://amzn.to/424gBs3 — Mark Moyar, Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965 https://amzn.to/42EAx4T On the Relic: — Vietnamese Buddhist Federation records on the heart relic preservation and enshrinement (2025) Historical records on Xa Loi Pagoda, the Hue Vesak crisis, and Buddhist protests in South Vietnam Reporting and archival material on the Diem regime, Madame Nhu, and U.S. reactions to the Buddhist crisis Malcolm Browne’s Associated Press photographs and reporting from Saigon, 1963 This video references and discusses Malcolm Browne's 1963 Associated Press photographs, archival news footage, and other historical materials related to the events of June 11, 1963 in Saigon, South Vietnam.

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#Buddhism #ThichQuangDuc #TheBurningMonk #VietnamWar #BuddhistHistory #BuddhistMonk #VietnamBuddhism #Mindfulness #Meditation #Dhammapada #Compassion #DiemRegime #Saigon1963 #Bodhisattva #Mahayana #DependentOrigination #AmitabhaBuddha

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Contentment heals stress, anxiety, depression?

Plutchik dyads: emotions

(Mind Frequency) Tibetan Zen sounds to destroy unconscious blockages: heal stress, anxiety, and depression [by the practice of progressive relaxation, letting go, giving, surrendering, turning inward with dispassion and radical allowing rather than resistance and strain].

The practice of "contentment" or santosha in Sanskrit and santutthi in Pali, is counterintuitive as it defuses the situation, the looming threat, the internal monologue of neediness and paucity, replacing it with everything being good right here right now just as it is.

• How to summon contentment on the yoga mat

Plutchik Wheel shows contentment

BUDDHIST CONTENTMENT (Pāli santutthi) is freedom from anxiety, wanting, craving, clinging.

It is a wondrous virtue mentioned in many prominent Buddhist sutras like the Metta Sutta ("Discourse on Loving-Kindness"), Mangala Sutta ("Discourse on Blessings"), and so on. In the Dhammapada (Verse 204), contentment is said to be the greatest wealth:

• "Health is the most precious gain and contentment the greatest wealth. A trustworthy person is the best kin and nirvana the highest bliss" (based on Bhikkhu Bodhi translation).

I'm good. Can you tell?

In the "Discourse on the Traditions of the Noble Ones" (Ariya Vamsa Sutta, AN 4:28), the Buddha mentions that the noble ones (beings along any of the seven stages* of enlightenment are content with any old robes, any old almsfood, and any old lodgings.

• *Yes, seven stages, not four, as detailed in the Vimutti Magga or Path of Freedom, which the Buddha frequently condensed into four main stages, distinguishing various types of stream enterers, popularized by the wider reach of the Vissudhi Magga or Path of Purification).

"Having cast away all deeds (karma),

Who could obstruct one?

Like an ornament wrought of finest gold,

Who is fit to find fault with such a one?" [43] Source

SUTRA: Contentment in the tradition of the noble ones

Dhr. Seven based on a translation by Ven. Thanissaro (accesstoinsight.org), Ariya Vamsa Sutta, "Discourse on the Traditions of the Noble Ones" (AN 4:28)

"There are four traditions of the noble ones, longstanding, ancient, unadulterated from their inception, free of suspicion, held faultless by wandering ascetics (shramans) and temple priests (Brahmins) who know and see. What are the four?

 

1. "A [Buddhist] monastic is content with any old robe cloth and speaks in praise of such contentment.*

• [*bhikkhu/bhikkhuni (samana) being rooted in the idea of "rag-picker" from the practice of selecting discarded and donated cloth for the stitching of saffron-dyed, patchwork robes and "alms-gatherer" for collecting donated food sufficient for survival in a dana economy such as existed in the ancient world even before "India" or "Great Bharat" came into being, and "wandering ascetic" (wild shaman, pilgrim, shramana) content with any resting place].

"One abstains from doing anything unseemly or inappropriate for the sake of acquiring such robe cloth. Not getting cloth, one remains without agitation. Getting cloth, one uses it without being tied to it, without infatuation, free of guilt, perceiving danger [seeing the drawbacks of attachment or clinging] and discerning an escape from such dangers.

 

"One avoids exalting oneself or disparaging others on account of such contentment with robe cloth. In this one is skillful, energetic, vigilant, [conscientious and] mindful.

 

"This, meditators, is said to be a monastic who stands firm in the ancient and original traditions of the noble ones.

 

2. "Furthermore, a monastic is content with any old almsfood and speaks in praise of such contentment. One avoids doing anything unseemly or inappropriate for the sake of acquiring almsfood. Not getting almsfood, one remains without agitation. Getting almsfood, one uses it without being tied to it, without infatuation, free of guilt, perceiving danger [the drawbacks of being attached or clinging] and discerning an escape from such dangers.

 

"One avoids exalting oneself or disparaging others on account of one's contentment with any old almsfood. In this one is skillful, energetic, vigilant, and mindful.

"This, meditators, is said to be a monastic who stands firm in the ancient and original traditions of the noble ones.

Tibetan Buddhist nuns make history with doctorates in Buddhist philosophy) | Justin Whitaker

.

3. "Furthermore, a monastic is content with any old lodgings and one speaks in praise of such contentment. One avoids doing anything unseemly or inappropriate for the sake of acquiring lodgings.

 

"Not getting lodgings, one remains without agitation. Getting lodgings, one uses them without being tied to them, without infatuation, free of guilt, perceiving danger [the drawbacks of attachment and clinging] and discerning an escape from such dangers.

"One avoids exalting oneself or disparaging others on account of such contentment with lodgings. In this one is skillful, energetic, vigilant, and mindful.

 

"This, meditators, is said to be a monastic standing firm in the ancient and original traditions of the noble ones.

4. "Furthermore, a monastic finds pleasure and delight in developing [skillful qualities], finds pleasure and delight in abandoning [unskillful qualities]. One avoids exalting oneself or disparaging others on account of such pleasure and delight in developing and abandoning.

"In this one is skillful, energetic, vigilant, and mindful. This, meditators, is said to be a monastic who stands firm in the ancient and original traditions of the noble ones.

"These are the four traditions of the noble ones, long-standing, ancient, unadulterated from their inception, free of suspicion, understood as faultless by wandering ascetics and Brahmins who know and see.

Be content and bliss you'll find.

"Furthermore, a monastic upholding these four traditions of the noble ones, if living in the east, conquers displeasure [discontent] rather than being conquered by displeasure.

"If one lives in the west...north...south, one conquers displeasure rather than being conquered by displeasure. Why? It is because the wise one endures [remains content through] both pleasure and displeasure."

This is what the Blessed One (the Buddha) said. Having said it, he concluded by reinforcing it more tersely:

Displeasure [discontentment] does not conquer the Noble One.

Displeasure does not suppress. Rather, the Noble One

conquers displeasure by enduring it.

Having cast away all deeds (karma), who could obstruct?

Like an ornament wrought of finest gold, who is fit to find fault?

Even the devas praise such a one, even by Brahma [the Supreme] is one praised.

• See also: "To Anuruddha" (AN 8.30); "Wishes" (AN 10.71)
• The [Unending] Round of Rebirth: Samsara
• Mind Frequency (music video); Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Zen and the "self" we are defending

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE)

ZEN: Bodhidharma's 'Wake Up Sermon'

Bodhidarma (Hakuin Ekaku)

 

(Echoes of Lost Knowledge) The sermon that has awakened more minds than any other teaching in Zen Buddhism | Bodhidharma

"Bodhidharma" was a semi-legendary Indian Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE [1]. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan (Zen) Buddhism to China and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch [a]. He is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu [2, 3, 4, 5], an idea popularized in the 20th century [4, 5, 2] but based on the 17th century Yijin Jing and the Taoist association of daoyin gymnastics with him. More

The woman faster than Bruce Lee

(Untold the Legacy of Bruce Lee) Female Karate Master Maki Uehara, Okinawa

Bruce Lee amazing skills: real or AI slop?

• Bruce Lee's punch was too fast to block
• VIDEO: My Kick Ass American Zen
• What happened to Doggone? Zen koans (TED)
• VIDEO: From US Marine to Zen monk

Zen's Bodhidharma on the ONE method

The ONE practice that contains every spiritual method | Bodhidharma's breakthrough sermon

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE) April 17, 2026: What if one single practice contained every other spiritual method within it?

In this final chapter of the series, the First Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma [from India] reveals the most essential teaching of his entire lineage — and it begins with beholding the mind.

 

This video is a direct transmission of Buddhist Wisdom that cuts through centuries of misunderstanding about what spiritual practice truly means.

Discover why temples, rituals, chanting, and good deeds alone cannot free us — and what actually can.

In this sermon, Bodhidharma teaches

→ The single method that contains all other methods

→ The three hidden poisons (greed, anger, delusion) — and how they silently run our life

→ The six "thieves" operating through our own senses, robbing us of peace every day

→ Why "three asankhya kalpas [aeons of indeterminate length]" of hardship is not what most people think

→ The true meaning of the six perfections (paramitas), the three sets of precepts, and invoking the Buddha

→ How to behold our own mind and free ourselves from suffering — in this very lifetime.

This is not a lecture. This is Buddhist Wisdom spoken directly — clear, unfiltered, and as alive today as it was 1,500 years ago.

📌 THIS SERIES

• Chapter 1 — Blood Stream Sermon (watch first)
• Chapter 2 — Wake-Up Sermon
• Chapter 3 — Breakthrough Sermon (you are here)

🔍 TOPICS COVERED

• Bodhidharma teachings | Breakthrough Sermon | Beholding the mind | Three Poisons in Buddhism | Six Perfections (paramitas) explained | Buddha Nature | Zen Buddhism | Buddhist Wisdom for modern life | First Zen Patriarch | Liberation from suffering | Three sets of precepts | Six thieves of the mind | Enlightenment teachings
• Bodhidharma: between myth and reality (Penglai Martial Arts)

Every week, this channel brings rare Buddhist Wisdom drawn from the original [Mahayana] teachings of the great masters — Bodhidharma, Bankei, Linji Yixuan, and the earliest Zen patriarchs. If the ancient path to liberation is what one are looking for [that person might try Theravada, a back-to-basics Buddhist movement that holds the teachings of the historical Buddha in the highest esteem over subsequent Mahayana interpretations and apocryphal inclusions, distortions, and additions], subscribe and turn on notifications to never miss a teaching.

This video is best experienced in a quiet space, and with full attention. #BuddhistWisdom #Bodhidharma #ZenBuddhism. How this was made: auto-dubbed and audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated.

Bruce Lee on Muscle Beach, Los Angeles

(Bruce Lee: The Dragon's Legacy) Bruce Lee was at Muscle Beach in Los Angeles, when a 315-pound strongman said, "Real men have mass" — six seconds later

In 1971, Bruce Lee was enjoying a day with his wife Linda Lee Cadwell and family at "Muscle Beach," a portion of Venice Beach next to Santa Monica under LAX's flight path, when Kurt Wagner — a 315-pound strongman who could deadlift 750 pounds — publicly challenged his Buddhist/Taoist/Chinese philosophy.

What happened in the next six seconds shocked the entire "Muscle Beach" crowd and changed strength culture forever.

This is the untold story of when raw power met precision, when mass confronted understanding, and when a world-champion strongman learned that everything he believed about strength was incomplete.

🥋 The confrontation that Muscle Beach never forgot

🥋 How a 135-pound man dropped a 315-pound giant in six seconds

🥋 The solar plexus strike that penetrates through muscle

🥋 Why mass without wisdom is just weight to carry

🥋 The strongman who became Bruce Lee's student

Kurt Wagner thought his 315 pounds of muscle made him unstoppable. Bruce Lee showed him that technique, properly applied, can overcome any size advantage — not through luck, not through tricks, but through deep understanding of anatomy, physics, and human movement.

This is the legacy of Bruce Lee teaching that real strength isn't measured in pounds, but in wisdom and understanding.

Joe Rogan: This is impossible 

(The Hidden Record) Only Dr. Joel Wallach (criticalhealthnews.com) knows what killed legendary and superhuman Bruce Lee (Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Chinese martial arts). It was his bad diet, going to extremes, killed by gluten and insufficient micro and macro nutrients.

'Wu wei' explained: Taoism in Zen

(Daily Tao Wisdom) The true story of wu wei (a concept in Taoism inherited by Zen (Chan), Chinese culture, and the Mahayana school of Buddhism -- told by the man who refused to explain it, "He Fang" (He Yan?)

Zen of Deep Relaxation: Group Sitting

Relaxing Zen Music with Water Sounds • Peaceful Ambience for Spa, Yoga and Relaxation

The orderly procession of the sword

What happens at Pasadena Zen Sangha? This Los Angeles-based group is growing by adhering to two principles. One, keep it cool, laidback, liberal lowkey, everyday normal but, two, make it exotic. How is that achieved?

American Zen Buddhist Priest Seigaku Amato

It is led by a Japan-trained, fully ordained American Soto Zen Buddhist priest, who follows all of the customs and ritual procedures of a formal (zazen) group sitting practice -- including Rinzai traditions that rely on koans ("cases," paradoxical riddles) and other less common activities of most U.S. Zen centers.

We walk in to practice mindful awareness of the present moment and everything going on in the here and now. This present moment may not always be pleasant, but it is always tolerable when viewed from the dispassionate perspective of, "Then there's this."

This point-of-view allows us to be the WATCHER rather than the usual, overly-involved "doer," "resister," or person taking it all very personally in accordance with the Three Poisons of passion, aversion, and delusion (greed, hatred/fear, ignorance).

WHAT HAPPENS?

Practitioners gather in the more than century-old Historic Quaker Meeting House. They take to zafus and zabutons, cushions, for seating themselves facing the wall or into the center of the hall. Laminated cards are handed out for chanting in English, Sanskrit, or a Japanese transliteration of Sanskrit, with singing bowl accompaniment. There's bowing and clacking sticks. Then the group settles in for the first sitting session of shikantaza or "just sitting." There's nothing to do but observe, no need to stop thinking or make anything other than how it is. A bell rings and walking meditation or kinhin begins, first very slowly then at normal speed, all the while remaining mindful. The bell announces the second sitting session. That ends with a bell, bowing, arranging the cushions in a circle, and the discussion begins. Sensei read a ponderous piece he had written about the impersonal aspiring for self-awakening. The group opened up for a Q&A. Then Sensei brought up a new documentary on psychedelics and Zen. This started a storm of comments, many laughs, and a lot of insight into American Buddhism. It resumes next week.

Beginner's Mind or Comfortably Numb?

A "zen" mind near jhana is clear and pure.

Beginner's Mind (Japanese 初心 or shoshin) is a concept from Zen Buddhism. It means it's better to have an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of expectations or preconceptions when practicing meditation and exploring Dharma. Even at an advanced level, approach Truth as a beginner would.

Beginner's Mind is especially used in the study of Zen Buddhism and Japanese martial arts [1]. It became popular outside Japan because of Shunryū Suzuki's book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.

Complete Illustrated Guide to Zen

The practice of shoshin acts as a counter to the hubris and closed-mindedness often associated with thinking of oneself as an adept or expert [2].

When we let ourselves think we know everything, we leave no room for surprises, but reality is full of surprises.

For example, in the Einstellung Effect, a person becomes so accustomed to a certain way of doing things that s/he does not consider or acknowledge new ideas or approaches [3], such as thinking outside the box. Like let's say someone asks you, "Who are YOU?"

• 

  One more TikTok, hookup, sext, hit of dopamine

  "I'm me," you say. Then this exchange takes place:
• "You're not who you think you are."
• "I'm who other people think I am."
• "No, you're not even that."
• "But, but, what else is there? If I'm not who I think I am, and I'm not who others think I am, do I just not exist?"
• "No, you are who you think others think you are."
• "Oh, yeah, because we're social creatures, right? There's always that [performative] factor of being watched, even if we only think we're being watched."
• "Something like that."
  
• "Ah, what do you know?"
• "Hey, at least I got you to think outside the box, realize it's not binary -- a this or that, thesis or antithesis. There's often a synthesis, an interaction, a third or fourth option not thought of within the confines of the assumptions surrounding the question."
• "Oh, yeah, huh?"
• "Monkey."

The word shoshin combines sho (Japanese 初, "beginner" or "initial") and shin (Japanese 心, "mind" or "heart") [4], which is not necessarily the brain but the intuition, knowing, heart, or the ability to discern. More

Comfortably numb?

LISTEN: (Angry Samoans) The punk rock classic "Gimme Sopor"

• There are other minds, and the worst of them is the restless Monkey Mind
• Dhr. Seven, Helena, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Where can one practice Beginner's Mind?

Dr. Rob Lustig: Science of Happiness

Los Angeles is a big place. There's Angel City Zen Center with artist and priest Dave, who replaced Brad Warner.

There's ZCLA (Zen Center of Los Angeles), which is a little stiff and set in their ways. Now there's a third good option, the Pasadena Zen Sangha with American Sensei Ese (S.A. for  Seigaku Amato).

What's so good about it? It's new, it's open, it's under a fully trained Zen priest who was certified in Japan and has been around many Zen circles.

The Four Noble Truths? I already know them!

On a recent Thursday night, practitioners gathered, took to zafus and zabutons (sitting cushions), chanted Sanskrit the Japanese way then English, and started a session of shikantaza, just sitting.

Then came time for kinhin, the relief of getting up to stretch and walk slowly and mindfully before another sitting session. Then the fireworks: question and answer with discussion.

"Those who know don't say, and those who say don't know" is a Taoist saying and sentiment. Many things can be known, and many of them can be expressed. So we hit Sensei with two barrels' worth of questions. Next time we finish off with koans of such subtlety and complexity, he stands no chance. ;,)

• (Disclosure Project) Zen Sitting Sangha, Thursdays (Friends Meeting House, LA), Thu, Mar 12, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup
• (Nature Center) Zen meditation community (Historic Friends Meeting House), Thu, Mar 12, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup
• (PasaDharma) Zen meditation community (Historic Friends Meeting House), Thu, Mar 12, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup
• Angel City Zen Center: Meditation and Discussion, Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 10:00 AM | Meetup
• WEEKLY ZEN MEDITATION, TALK AND DISCUSSION IN PERSON (AND ZOOM), Sat, Mar 14, 2026, 8:30 AM | Meetup
• (Shambhala) Sunday Morning Community Meditation (In-Person), Sun, Mar 15, 2026, 10:00 AM | Meetup
• (Shambhala) Wednesday Evening Community Meditation (In-Person), Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 7:30 PM | Meetup
• Virtual Heartfulness Meditation Meetup - join by Zoom or by phone, Sun, Mar 15, 2026, 11:30 AM | Meetup
• Dhr. Seven, Helena, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
  

Why Taoism Founder Lao Tzu left China

(Daily Tao Wisdom) The real reason Lao Tzu left China never to return

Can Buddhist monks talk about politics?

(Walk for Peace 2026) After the peace walk, someone in Washington DC asked Venerable Pannakara about politics: The room fell silent

Hidden Birth of Zen (as Taoism)

Bodhidharma: Nothing you do... - Are you crazy, then why do anything? - Be. Go with the Tao

What are you doing, Zen Master? - I'm going with the Tao. - You're not doing anything. - Yes.

(Buddha's Wisdom) When Buddhism met Taoism: The Hidden Birth of "Zen"

• So much of what people call "Zen" (capitalized as opposed to zen or jhana/dhyana) sounds more like Taoism (with a stiff dose of Confucianism) than Buddhism, and here's why. It was all picked up in translation. So what was lost? Those may be beautiful spiritual/temporal traditions with which to blend, but what is obscured is the historical Buddha's message until it is almost completely lost and replaced by Hinduism (with its Tantra, yoga, and magic that gave rise to another branch Vajrayana/Shingon attached) to a new religion that came to be called Mahayana, far from the Buddha's Dhamma.

Everything Zen

We silly Westerners have no idea! We think we know

"Zen" is a silly word, carrying so much meaning in American English. Goodness knows what it means in Japan or China nowadays, a dying religious sect taking sides in the jiriki versus tariki battle?

We aim to find out on Thursdays in Los Angeles at the Pasadena Zen Sangha. There is a path. What is it? If one were to ask the average American Zen practitioner, then everything likely to be heard in response would be some derivation of Taoism, not Buddhism or any relation to relation to the Doctrine of the historical Buddha.

Shikantaza: just do it because it's just sitting.

Lao Tzu (Laozi) was not a Buddhist. He was possibly a celestial (deva), descended to Earth to philosophize and guide the Chinese.

For all that, on "Buddhist Radio" (Alan Watts - KPFK 90.7 FM, 8:00 am, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026) Alan Watts explained Zen in 18-minutes.

His brief talk lays bare the root of every misconception. Moreover, Buddha's Wisdom (in the video displayed above) does much to add context and clarify. Zen can be grasped.

 

KPFK Public Radio - Online Archives Archive

Watts says the problem with understanding Zen is that unless one were raised Japanese -- very punctilious, rigid, formal, ritualistic, deadly afraid of a faux pas, losing face, or doing things incorrectly -- one will not be able to appreciate what Zen (Taoism) offers as relief.

Zen promotes spontaneity, naturalness, flow, being at ease, comfort, and relaxing into a kind of "just being" present and mindful (of the moment) without so much thinking (premeditation).

• FREE THURSDAYS: Zen Meditation Community, LA

• Buddha's Wisdom, Feb. 2026; cartoonist Brad Warner, Angel City Zen, 4/15/24; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Hel (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly