Showing posts with label Zen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zen. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Buddha Yoga. Correcting Zen. Lost principles
"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 vs. hariki battle?
We aim to find on Thursdays in Los Angeles at the Pasadena Zen Sangha. There is a path. What is it? Ask the average American Zen practitioner, and everything likely to be heard will be some derivation of Taoism. No relation to the historical Buddha. Lao Tzu (, Latin Lacious)
Buddha Yoga: Cultivating the Yoga Path of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Guardian Spirits
Author William Bodri has 4.9 out of 5 stars (with 17 reviews).
The path to enlightenment, self-realization, moksha ("spiritual liberation") is essentially a path of yoga.
Specifically, this path of “Buddha Yoga” entails both mental meditation practice and inner cultivation of the Qi (chi) or prana within our body so that we can attain the first fruit of the spiritual path, which is an independent spiritual body that can leave the physical body at will.
Buddha Yoga is also a pathway that requires us to polish our mind and behavior so that we can achieve the purity of virtue in thought, word, and deed.
Regardless of our religion and hard work at spiritual training, most people will not achieve the initial fruit of the spiritual path because we usually lack the proper instructions and devotion to effective spiritual practice efforts.
The most we can then hope for is success in some afterlife, during which time we can choose to become bodhisattva protectors or guardian spirits for all sorts of earthly activities.
That being the case, this book teaches ordinary people how to properly perform spiritual practices and how readers can most effectively train to become a guardian spirit, buddha, or bodhisattva of one's own choosing.
This includes spiritual careers as protectors of nations, cities, people’s health, wealth, agriculture, and so forth.
It reviews common spiritual teachings about the origin of the universe and consciousness, helps readers
- decide on a specific life purpose(s) within this life,
- delineates the yoga practice methods for cultivating the physical body and stages of emptiness meditation required of Buddha Yoga,
- goes over several foundational topics of study for becoming various types of guardian spirits or bodhisattva protectors for humanity, and
- reveals how religious professionals can better help greater society through certain forms of self-study.
Correcting Zen: Reforming Buddhist Practice According to Lost Buddhist Principles
Author William Bodri has 4.3 out of 5 stars (with 18 reviews). When Buddhism first arose in India (and ancient Afghanistan, called Gandhara) it collected and espoused a number of the best meditation and inner energy cultivation techniques of its day.
However, many of the principles behind these practices have become lost over time, sometimes because they are considered "secret" in Buddhism's later esoteric traditions.
When Buddhism first entered China and the majority of its teachings were as yet still untranslated, a large number of practitioners were still able to attain enlightenment without depending on sutras because those individuals primarily relied on just two cultivation techniques that had been transmitted, anapana inner breath (energy) work and the white skeleton bone visualization practice.
Buddhism today rarely produces enlightened sages as it did in the beginning because its training curriculum is now inadequate in inner energy work, breathing practices, and mindfulness work, visualization efforts, immeasurable meditations, mantra-yana, stretching exercises, self-rectification, and Buddha vows.
This work helps restore many of the lost principles for these practices that were once responsible for Buddhism’s previous great success in producing countless enlightened masters.
These instructions of highly effective enlightenment practices are for the benefit of all people, of all traditions and religions, who are seeking spiritual attainments and who desire the quickest pathway of sequential steps and practices for attainment. More
- William Bodri, April 13, 2019, Jan. 20, 2023; Amber Larson, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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Wednesday, June 24, 2026
The Ten Stages of Zen Enlightenment
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| The way to sudden awakening is abduction by ETs then gurgling on TV: Disclosure Day |
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The 10 Stages of Zen Enlightenment: A Map to Buddha-Nature
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| Ten to Zen Bulls |
- What does Zen consider "enlightenment"? There are two words used. The first is satori (from Japanese satoru, to know, to see, understand a gestalt) or "sudden realization." Any insight or epiphany might do. But there's another word, kenshō, that means suddenly seeing our "true face," our "nature," our intrinsic "Buddha-nature." Certainly, our "true nature," which is the true nature of all things, has three marks. Penetrating this is necessary to letting go of all clinging.
- None of these accords with what the historical Buddha taught as enlightenment (bodhi, "awakening"), but seeing "emptiness" (suññatā) -- how all things are impersonal -- is necessary for the first stage of awakening called "stream entry."
- The Ten Bulls or the "Ten Ox Herding Pictures" (Chinese shíniú 十牛, Japanese jūgyūzu 十牛図, Korean sipwoo 십우)
Created by 12th-century Chinese Chan Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn, these images explain the stages of enlightenment—from desperate seeking to the realization that the ox we’ve been chasing has been the "Buddha-nature" we already possess and have always possessed.
This isn’t just ancient art. It’s a mirror showing where we truly are on the path to awakening right now.
This video explores The 10 Stages of Zen Enlightenment: A Map to Buddha-Nature, decoding the Zen Buddhist path to awakening through Zen’s most iconic teaching story.
Learn how Kuòān Shīyuǎn’s Ten Ox-Herding Pictures became a timeless visual guide to mindfulness, meditation, and non-duality in Chinese Chan and Zen Buddhism.
DISCOVER
- The 10 ancient Zen stages explained step-by-step
- How 12th century Master Kuòān Shīyuǎn transformed Taoist symbols into Zen training tools
- The mystery behind the final picture—why enlightenment ends in a noisy marketplace
- How the Heart Sutra and Zen Master Dōgen’s teachings appear inside these images
- Why these ancient pictures still describe the modern search for meaning and peace
- [Hasbara propaganda works as 'Disclosure Day' invades globe with $93M worldwide opening
- Box Office: 'Disclosure Day' opening to $44 mil in U.S.
- 'Disclosure Day' nears $100 mil, 'Michael' eyes $950 mil]
| Are ETs into Zen? (Disclosure Day) |
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
- 00:00 Intro – “You’ve lost something”
- 01:09 Chp 1 – The finger pointing at the moon
- 03:11 Chp 2 – When you first spot what you’ve lost
- 07:52 Chp 3 – The years of wrestling your own mind
- 12:06 Chp 4 – The death of everything you think you are
- 17:57 Chp 5 – Why enlightenment [Zen's version of the awakened state] looks like a drunk in the market
- 21:45 Chp 6 – The ox you’re already riding
| Ox herding pictures, No. 7 (Ten Bulls) |
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📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Primary texts:
"Ten Ox-Herding Pictures" by Kuòān Shīyuǎn (Kakuan) - 12th century Chan Buddhism classic
"The Platform Sutra" - Teachings of Huìnéng, Sixth Patriarch
"The Diamond Sutra" (Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra)
"The Heart Sutra" (Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya)
"Shōbōgenzō" by Dōgen Zenji - 13th century Zen master
"The Gateless Gate" (Wúménguān) - Classic Zen kōan collection featuring Zhàozhōu
Modern scholarship:
"Zen and Japanese Culture" by D.T. Suzuki
"The Three Pillars of Zen" by Philip Kapleau (commentary on ox-herding)
"Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin" translated by Norman Waddell
"The Zen Teaching of Rinzai" translated by Irmgard Schloegl
Historical Context:
Earlier buffalo-herding sets from Chinese Chan tradition
Evolution from earlier versions to Kakuan's refined ten-stage cycle
Song Dynasty Buddhist art and philosophy
- Buddha's Wisdom, Nov. 2, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
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Monday, May 11, 2026
Strawberries for Zen: mindfulness now
(Zenith Zen) The Zen Buddhist story that will change how you spend the next 60 seconds of your life
| Buddhism, Taoism say: "Be here now." |
He may have been onto me because just as he started to drift off, he would rouse himself with some coughing or clearing his throat. I had to wait, pretending to be interested in what he had on, some old timey British movie from the 60s. Half aware, he kept an eye on me. And it seemed every time I made a move to change the channel, he would snap back to consciousness. I had to sit there looking all innocent, watching whatever he had on, until I became mesmerized by what it was.
This remarkable movie was funny and grew increasingly funny as the viewer realized what was happening. I immediately wished for a way to send it back to the beginning so I could see how it unfolded from the start. But there was no way. One could only enjoy as little as one had left of it. I didn't even know if I had missed half of it, 90% of it, or how much was left. But it kept getting funnier and funnier.
The set up was a Faustian bargain between a nobody up against a brilliant and angelic Beelzebub. The first had apparently sold his soul for seven wishes, and the latter was tricking him into quickly using them up. All the schlub wanted was the love of an unattainable beauty he worked with.
And that was enough for the Devil. All he had to do was trick the schlub into picking yet another foolish strategy for attaining his goal and then pull the rug out from under him by giving him what he literally asked for and never the spirit of what he wished. The Devil used the beauty as the bait, and the man kept biting...until, seemingly out of nowhere, he grew a backbone and chose to stop.
"What do you mean 'stop'?" the Devil demanded. "You're too smart for me, I can't get what I wish for, so I'm not going to use up any more wishes." The Devil never heard of such a thing. If the man doesn't use all seven wishes, well, the deal's off. He never gets his soul. The man had inadvertently found a gaping loophole in the blood pact bargain.
Beelzebub was too smart to accept no for an answer, so he seduced the man with friendly talk and an offer to use his place to rest himself, in the meanwhile sending in Lust (played by Raquel Welch) to seduce and confuse him. Then Vanity, all the Seven Deadly Sins at his disposal. The man was soon turned around and continued to wish.
During that brief period of friendship, Beelzebub let the man tag along during his busy day doing mischief and mayhem. As part of those escapades, they found themselves up a telephone pole cutting wires and making prank calls to a woman whose husband was cheating on her, breaking the bad news to get the philanderer in trouble with his wife.
The man, already put off by his own bargain gone bad, felt disgusted at the Devil's behavior. "How can you live with yourself, doing all these petty bad deeds, hurting people?" the man said judgmentally.
The Devil answered that it was his job. Anyway, it was just mischief. But he was hurt and he got the man back with one of the many zingers in this super-clever film. Who knows how this fantastic piece of comic morality tale came to be on American TV, which is usually filled with tripe and cotton candy. This was a truffle by comparison.
The Devil says to the man, "In the words of the great philosopher Lee Kwai Kwak, imagine you were walking along when a tiger jumped out and began to chase you. You run away but come to the edge of a cliff. Looking over, you notice the tiger's mate chomping her jaws waiting for you to fall. You turn around to go the other way, but there's the male tiger chomping its jaws about to eat you. What would you do?" The man's answer?
He exclaims, "What a stupid question! I wouldn't get myself into such a mess in the first place!"
"Oh, no, not you. You're far better off! Here you are halfway up a pole in Berkshire, half your wishes gone and no idea how to get down. You have nothing to learn from Lee Kwai Kwak and his tigers."
The man is nonplussed, realizing he should have paid attention about what to do in such a hopeless situation. Now, not having listened, he's on the edge of ruin.
| Bedazzled (1967 film) |
| Vidiots, the world's greatest video store |
Vidiots of Santa Monica (now reborn in Eagle Rock) had it! More than that I appeared it. Imagine loving a film so much that you get yourself in it. How? One can't go back in time and change the same timeline. No, but one can appear in the sequel then get cut out of it as the numb director chops the climactic scene, the funniest scene, and replaces it with a nonsensical gag. That's Hollywood for ya, every sequel a waste of time money grab.
Seeing it from the beginning, it was even funnier and more a work of genius than I could have realized and better than I remembered. Every Christian should consider it a must-see to question assumptions about their faith. Every atheist who knows a thing or two about what the Church teaches should see it to see those assumptions skewered. Every Buddhist might way to pay attention when the Trickster begins to explain the Zen parable of the tigers and the strawberries. Will anyone listen? Who knows? One can lead a vidiot to videotape, but one cannot make anyone get it.
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Sunday, May 10, 2026
Reflections on Vesak (May 2026)
| Buddhism for All: The Joyful Path |
| Mahamevnawa Meditation |
(Buddha Lotus Mantra [AI slop]) Robotic dreams of Vesak
Get ready for change! The Vesak (Wesak) Full Moon Festival of Lights 2026 ignites
(WTC) As we are now experiencing the Full Moon of Scorpio on May 1, 2026, it brings with it the ability to step into a transformative energy that allows us to expand more deeply into a new phase of a divine plan. Self comes into focus.
This means that the alignment of Cosmic energies are opening up so that each individual can enter more deeply into the shadow of self and allow for deeper healing to occur within the body's full system (physical-etheric-emotional-mental).
The moon in Scorpio can be intensely emotionally challenging each year, as it is a time of deep reflection that allows for an opening of the subconscious mind into a state of purity. This is a rare occasion for humanity to allow for reflection. Doing so can cause emotional upheavals and challenges to occur.
For most of us it is difficult to realize that there are elements in our reality that no longer are working... More: walkingterrachrista.com
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Samurai: Choose isolation over belonging?
(Presence & Purpose) What is a Samurai ronin good for?
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Friday, May 8, 2026
Vesak Day celebrations, Berkeley (5/9)
Come join us in celebrating the Buddha's birthday, enlightenment, and final nirvana. Chanting, food, tea, and blessings, everyone is welcome.
On Saturday, May 9, 2026, we celebrate Vesak, a day to commemorate the Buddha's birth, mahabodhi, and parinirvana.
Hopefully we will become more aware of the fact that we are intrinsically the same as all buddhas and thus will be inspired to use the Buddha’s teachings, his Dharma (Doctrine), to help ourselves and others.
- Location: Universal Chan (445 Colusa Ave, Kensington, CA 94707)
- PHOTOS: Vesak Day: Buddha's Birthday Celebration Tickets, Saturday, May 9 • 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM | Eventbrite
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Friday, May 1, 2026
Burning monk fights fire with fire: Vietnam War
| We'll kill that g**k for imperial US corporations |
- 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! |
🔍 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 |
⚠️ 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 |
- 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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Thursday, April 30, 2026
Contentment heals stress, anxiety, depression?
| Plutchik dyads: emotions |
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.
| Plutchik Wheel shows contentment |
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.
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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.
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| Be content and bliss you'll find. |
"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
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Monday, April 20, 2026
ZEN: Bodhidharma's 'Wake Up Sermon'
(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
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Sunday, April 19, 2026
The woman faster than Bruce Lee
(Untold the Legacy of Bruce Lee) Female Karate Master Maki Uehara, Okinawa
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