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Correct Understanding of Zen: The Three Pillars
Read time 2 minutes. How Duality, Ego, and Thought Shape—and Distort—Our View of Reality, formulating a correct understanding of Zen teachings. Let’s take a moment to step back. Sometimes the clearest insight arrives not through progress, but through pause. A brief reset. A return to the basics—because the foundation matters more than we think. Zen
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The Subtle Art of Not-Doing
Read time 2 minutes. Not-Doing in Action is the final installment of our Addition Through Subtraction series. As we close out this exploration of not-doing, we arrive at a core understanding—one that’s easy to miss, yet quietly central. There’s a subtle action on a higher level that creates inaction below. A simple shift in attention. A
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Progress Inaction: The Tao of Not-Doing
Read time 2 minutes. Progress inaction is a stand alone article in our continuing series, Addition Through Subtraction. Let’s continue our exploration of the wisdom of inaction—what Eastern philosophy often calls not-doing. When we think of progress, we usually picture cause and effect: If I study, I’ll get good grades, which will lead to success. Action
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Non-Action, Tao, and the Wisdom of Letting Go
Read time 2 minutes. Non-action is the seed out of which everything flowers. This stand alone article is the first in our Addition Through Subtraction series. Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching reads:To learn, one increases day by day;To cultivate Tao, one reduces day by day.Reduce and reduce and keep on reducing,Till the state
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Mind Means Disturbance—and That’s Not a Problem
Read time 3 minutes. Turn overthinking into a useful tool—an alert for mindfulness into peace of mind. A common misconception of Zen training is that we’re supposed to rid ourselves of all thoughts and emotions. But if we make that the goal, we’ll likely end up frustrated. As Nisargadatta Maharaj says in I Am That, “There
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Video: Conscious Awareness and the Nature of Illusion
Redefining illusion There are two reoccurring themes referenced in this video. First, you are not your thoughts and emotions. You are the one that witnesses the thoughts and emotions. Second, there is an illusory quality to reality as we experience it. Orgyen Chowang makes a subtle yet profound point regarding illusion which I have often