The well-known Zen Buddhist phrase ‘the finger pointing at the moon’ refers to the means and the end, and the possibility of mistaking one for the other…
Buddhism
Perfect Wisdom: Prajnaparamita Texts
The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras (The Short Prajnaparamita Texts) were composed in India between approximately 100 BC and AD 600. Those contained within this volume are among the shorter ones; they are also some of the most well known such as The Heart Sutra, Perfection of Wisdom in 500 lines, The Diamond Sutra, and Perfection of Wisdom in 700 lines.
The Old Zen Master
At the beginning you have to take up a koan riddle. One such is this: ‘What is your true face before father and mother were born’. For one facing the turbulence of life and death, such a koan clears away the sandy soil and opens up the golden treasure which was there from the beginning, the ageless root of all things…
Experience Beyond Thinking
Have the courage to let a thought slip by and not chase after it. Not clinging to thought, not rejecting it, the mind will open to a natural awareness…
Understanding Karma and Rebirth by Diana St Ruth
Rebirth and reincarnation are generally accepted realities in the East and have been since ancient times. What the next life will be is usually the question rather than whether it will be.
It’s hard to let go of wishing and wanting, yearning and craving, by Diana St Ruth
That ordinary mind of ours tends to get camouflaged with desires and fantasies. It’s hard to let go of wishing and wanting, yearning and craving, and come to a stop, here, where we are. We may even think that…
The search for Gautama Buddha’s birthplace
In 1837, a young Englishman James Prinsep, who as a master of the Royal Mint at Calcutta and secretary of the Bengal Asiatic Society, was able to decipher the Brahmi inscriptions of the edicts of Emperor Asoka…
Advice for Monks who are Beginners on the Way
Your paying homage to the Buddha proceeds from certain conditions latent within your true original nature. These are deep impressions that you have received from the Buddha. And they were not received in vain. They are like sounds near a mountain that will be followed by their echo…
Buddhism now 