The Same Old Zen

I witnessed a murder last night.  It happened in my kitchen while I was making tea. I'd just finished boiling water, and I was perusing my collection of tea bags. As I leaned over the counter, trying to choose between, Red Nectar and Peach Perfection, I noticed movement out of the corner my eye.  I looked to my right, and saw my cat, Enso, moving slowly across the floor on his stomach.  It occurred to me that if he were 300 pounds bigger, he'd look just like one of those lions you see stalking prey on Discovery Channel . Then my attention went back to tea-making. Moments later, I heard a loud meow, followed by a crash.  I turned just in time to see Enso leap off the counter top, and sprint from the room. The place on the counter where my precious Buddha statue normally sat was empty.  The floor was covered in pieces of twisted metal and broken plaster.  It took me a moment to realize what happened. Then I noticed one piece of plaster that looked like the fractu

4 years ago I made the decision to stop drinking.  When people ask me why I did that, I usually tell them that it's part of my Buddhist practice.  This is true.  Sitting in meditation and examining the karmic outcomes of my actions did in fact lead to my sobriety.  But it's not the whole truth. The other part of the equation is that my drinking had gotten out of control, and both my work and my bank account were suffering as a result.  So I stopped drinking, and my life got better. But it wasn't all fairy tales and rainbows.  A lot of the people I called friends back then were heavy-drinkers.  And they weren't too pleased with my decision .  To be clear, I never said that they  should stop drinking.  In fact, I made a point of not making a big scene out of my sobriety.  I just stopped taking shots with people, and I drank water instead of beer at restaurants. But that was still a problem for some people.  They thought I was boring or judgmental  for not b

In Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a being who has vowed to realize enlightenment in order to save all sentient beings from suffering.  Teachers will often tell stories of Bodhisattvas and their great feats/ vows of compassion in order to motivate students and give them an example of enlightened behavior. For example, Amitabha , the Bodhisattva of infinite light, is said to stand at the doorway to paradise; refusing to enter until all sentient beings can enter with him.  In contrast, Jizo , the Bodhisattva of hell-beings, spends his days roaming the deepest, most torturous parts of hell.  He can leave any time he wants, but he refuses to do so until all of the demons can leave with him. So we have one Bodhisattva who refuses to enter heaven, and we have another who refuses to leave hell until their misbehaving brothers and sisters can come with them.  That my friends, is called being a team player. But how do we put these lessons into practice?  There's so much