New Year Resolution

1. Reflect with gratitude to all those who have taught, helped and inspired mi along this path...
2. Appreciate life! moment to moment...
3. Practice diligently! moment to moment...

i have found the following verse helpful in motivating my practice (extracted from Zen Center of San Diego's website - the Zen Center's Zen Teachers are Ezra Bayda n his wife Elizabeth Hamilton)...

Caught in the self-centered dream, only suffering.
Holding to self-centered thoughts, exactly the dream.
Each moment, life as it is, the only teacher.
Being just this moment, compassion's way.

Zen Reading List

over the course of my spiritual journey, i had read quite a number of books and i have consolidated a list of 20 books that really made a impact on my practice and i have listed them in amazon.com, do go check them out =)

http://www.amazon.com/Yet-nbsp-another-nbsp-Zen-nbsp-Reading-nbsp-List/lm/R208TIN15WK0R7/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_alt_1

Book Review - Zen Heart by Ezra Bayda

An exceptionally clear and comprehensive manual on spiritual practice.

I have read Ezra's other 2 books "Being Zen" and "At home in the Muddy Waters" and had found the techniques learned from them helpful in extending my spiritual practice beyond the meditation cushion into everyday living.

"Zen Heart" is in the same spirit and i would say even better! In "Zen Heart", besides offering a wealth of practical advice for extending practice beyond our meditation cushion, Ezra also provides a roadmap by breaking down practice into 3 overlapping phases - the me phase, being awareness and being kindness phases. The Me Phase, in which we uncover deeply held beliefs about ourselves, observe our emotions and fears. Being Awareness, in which we cultivate a sense of life-as-it-is, waking up from the "story-line of me" into a more spacious sense of being. Being Kindness, in which we connect with the love that is our true nature, and learning to live from that place of natural loving kindness and compassion.

I think that this roadmap is a very useful guide that help to clarify and de-mystify the whole process and dynamics of spiritual practice. Each of these phases describes a particular inner process that each of us must go through on our spiritual journey and all 3 are essential components that makes up a complete practice.

I regard Ezra as my teacher, through his books, writings and am in deep gratitude to what i have learnt from him over the past couple years from his earliest publication "Being Zen" to this latest one "Zen Heart". This is a book, that I would recommend to everyone keen on deepening his/her own spirituality.

3 days chan retreat conducted by Guo Yi Fa Shi (of Dharma Drum Mountain)

Happy to be able to spend the X'mas period on a retreat (25-28th)

Besides sitting meditation,
there was walking meditation, chanting, yoga, work practice...

and even morning/evening movies too haha =P (actually they are lectures by Chan Master Sheng Yen shown on DVD)

All we need to do was to remember this verse,

"Where the body is, the mind is there"

that's all, simple isn't it? =)

But my ego doesn't like that, my little mind keeps trying to escape from the present moment, resist things-as-it-is or to make something special out this ordinary moment...

so moment to moment, i watched my little mind play out little episodes of drama...

sometimes the little mind has enough of the ramblings and there was just the simple moment of just sitting, just walking, just doing yoga without all the commentary but too bad, the peaceful moments came too little too late and it was time to go home haha =P

introduction

This blog is the ramblings of a zen student from the little island of Singapore.




it all began 10 years ago with an innocent question,

"what is the meaning of life?"

that was during my national service daes...

faced with impermanence and uncertainties staring straight into my face, the question only grew stronger...

then when i began studies in NUS, i explored the possibilities and answers to this question.

i picked up the book by Zen Master Seung Sahn "Dropping ashes on the Buddha", was inspired and began the spiritual journey of zen practice ever since...


10 years have passed since then,

i decided to start blogging on the spiritual journey

partly inspired by pei fen who started blogging too haha =P

also to encourage myself to practice more diligently

to share my thoughts and reflections along the long practice path...