A samurai came to see Zen master Hakuin and asked, “Is there any hell? Is there any heaven? If they exist, where are their gates?” Hearing this, Hakuin simply asked in return, “Who are you?” “I am a samurai,” replied the warrior proudly. “I am a leader of samurais and even the emperor pays respect to me.” The Zen master…
Category: Self-Growth
Do You Take Yourself For Granted?
Did you know that, although deaf and blind, Helen Keller was an author and activist who helped found the American Civil Liberties Union and later was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom? She was an admirable woman with greater clarity about who she was and what she wanted than most people who can see and hear. It’s hard to imagine…
Carpe Diem: Seize the Day!
We had to put our beloved dog Luna to sleep. She suddenly started eating less and less a couple weeks ago until she stopped eating completely, as if her digestive system shut down. Lab tests, x-rays, and all sorts of examinations came back normal, providing no obvious reason for these radical changes. Her vet concluded it was some aggressive cancer…
Meet Psyche, Your Love Guided Soul
The mythological story of Eros and Psyche is one of my favorites; it’s a great reminder of the many obstacles the soul must overcome to find true love. Eros, the god of love, is one of the primordial gods involved in the creation of the Cosmos, although he was later portrayed as Cupid (or “desire”), a son of Venus, the…
What Are Your Goals In Life?
What comes to mind when you think of your purpose in life? Is it to raise a happy family, to help others in some way, or to meet your mental, emotional, and physical needs? Is it to make a meaningful contribution to save the planet? Is it doing something positive or unique and getting recognition for it? Or perhaps all…
What Your Type of Partner Says About You
I once heard a psychologist giving a lecture say something like, “without relationships no growth is possible.” Of course, having met saints who spent years in isolation seeking and achieving enlightenment, this sounded a bit too conventional for me. I myself chose to disconnect from the world for 3 years in an attempt to understand the meaning of my life,…
How Do You Get Out of Your Head?
I don’t know if you remember how your mental processes shifted from the self-centered viewpoint of childhood into the constant focus on others when you became a teenager. It’s not that you didn’t pay attention to those around you as a child, you most certainly did, but you were still in the process of shaping your perception to integrate and…