Harlem & Jill

 「當我們注視一朵花時，我們會問：『是誰在盛開？』 深觀這個問題，就能碰觸到無相。

 仔細想想， 我們所說的每一句話都是在對自己講。我們所做的每一個反應都是對自己的反應。不是嗎？ 心中產生了印象、認知，然後對那個印象和認知發生反應，採取行動應對，終究是在回應自己的心。

 「作為一名修行人，我們的目標並非賺很多錢，而是轉化自己內心的痛苦，活在平靜和幸福之中。當我們看到家人及朋友幸福，我們的幸福會成倍增長。這種收穫不需要等待十年，現在馬上就可以獲益。」 this is not the exact quote from a book from Thich Nhat Hanh, but I find it more resonate to me this way. This is like a reminder, a bell of mindfulness, calling me back to my awareness of the right path.  We all know what is the right thing to do and what is the right mindset to keep, but sometimes forgetfulness has us and we lose our direction.  The light of wisdom is always within ourselves like the moonshine in the sky. all we have to do is to stop and listen. With enough clarity, The road will show itself to us naturally. #Jill

 I have gotten a few questions on my mind. The first one came earlier as I was trying to practice, mindful breathing. The question is, Why should we be mindful and pay attention to our breath when it works so well automatically. Heaven, human species evolved such a long way to make breath automatic? Even when I’m not aware of it, it works so perfectly. So why do I have to be mindful of my breath?  And somehow, I have preliminary answer to it. Being mindful of our breath is not for breathing better. Breath is the lifeline for us to come back to the present moment. it is the lifebuoy we can cling onto in order to save ourselves from hell, from the traumatized the past and from the worrisome future. it’s wonderful that we can always have this lifeline with us. as long as we are a life. We will still have a breath that can save ourselves at any time. so being mindful of our breath is not for breath itself, but for curing our mind and bringing us back to the hearing now The second question

There was a time when I had this question on my mind: If there are countless after lives, meaning we will come back again and again, until an infinite future, why do we have to practice diligently this life?  Why can’t we just play around and have fun this life and then in one of our after lives, we start to practice. It will never be too late because we will have infinite after lives.  But as I learn more and more about mindfulness practice, I realize that Buddhism practice is not for reaching an ultimate goal to become enlightened. Mindfulness practice is to become happy, and to reduce suffering.  So why do we have to wait until future lives to start becoming happy when we can become happy right here and right now? you can be happy right here and right now and when you do that, you are enlightened, you are a Buddha. # Jill Yang

Sometimes I come up with my own 公案, a philosophical dialogue or question to contemplate. This is a recent one: Master: The Buddha is not confined to his skin. He is everywhere. So if you only see the Buddha as someone in a physical body, you are wrong. The Buddha is present in the entire universe. Student: Dear Master, why do you say the Buddha is everywhere in the universe? I can't see how the Buddha can be found in the farthest star or at a time before the Buddha Shakyamuni. Master: What Buddha? This came to me after I listened to a Dharma talk from Thich Nhat Hanh on "there is action but no actor". Whenever we wonder "who" is doing "what", "when" and "where", we are caught in the wrong perceptions and are blinded by wrong questions. It's like asking "where is the parallel universe?" That's a false question because space and location are in the universe, not the universe is in the space. And this also came to me

I just read about a news article showing a poll that says 6 in 10 U.S. adults support protecting the rights of embryos to some degree. It mentioned a court ruling in Alabama state, which says embryos, even fertilized outside the womb, have equal rights as humans do. This ruling almost forced IVF treatment centers in Alabama to halt operation because if embryos are indeed humans, they are basically killing hundreds of lives every year as they dispose unused embryos!  Absurd as the "embryo equals human" argument seems at first glance, it actually leads to a deeper, philosophical question: when does life begin, and when does it end? According to the same poll, 3 in 10 Americans believe the statement: "human life begins at conception," which sounds perfectly logical. But when put into legal context, not so much. The Article 7 of the Civil Code of Taiwan stipulates that " An unborn child is considered as if it were already born with regard to its interests, except

  【聖嚴法師 心靈環保法與】 慈悲沒有敵人，智慧不起煩惱 Compassion has no enemy, wisdom gives rise to no affliction -- Master Sheng Yen 佛教中有「結緣」的說法，意思就是人與人之間彼此支持、協助，共同走上良善、光明的道路。 Buddhism speaks about "cultivating positive connection," meaning you and I support and help each other so that we can walk on the righteous and bright path together. 「慈悲沒有敵人，智慧不起煩惱」，慈悲的對象，除了慈悲別人，也要慈悲自己。因為不慈悲自己，會讓自己很痛苦。例如，有的人不肯原諒自己，於是就傷害自己。其實做錯事，改過就好，若是不斷責罰自己，就會一直陷在痛苦之中，這就是對自己不慈悲了。對別人也是一樣，如果態度不慈悲，可能就會一再地傷害他人。 In the quote "Compassion has no enemy, wisdom gives rise to no affliction, " we should not only have compassion toward others but also toward ourselves. Without self-compassion, life can be very painful. For example, if one doesn't know how to forgive oneself, they might end up punishing themselves. But the right way to deal with a mistake is to correct it, constantly reproach oneself and remain trapped in suffering . This is a form of self-cruelty. Similarly, if we are not compassionate in our attitude towa

I have some questions about mindfulness and concentration.  In the teachings, Thay says we should practice mindfulness in our daily lives and be aware of everything happening at this moment. But we are often doing multiple things simultaneously. For example, if I am washing the dishes, I am also breathing, seeing the splashes, and hearing the sounds of the water. With multiple perceptions and feelings at the same time, which one should we be mindful of? In one of the mindfulness practices Thay taught us, he says we can practice listening to music with mindfulness. This means being mindful of the music and the melodies while also aware of our breath. But shouldn't we focus on one thing at a time? How can we be mindful of multiple things simultaneously? When we are concentrated, do we remain mindful and aware of what is happening? For example, if I am listening to a Dharma talk, should I be aware of the words being said or the fact that I am listening to a talk from this Zen master a

  語言有很強大的力量。 佛陀說的karma是身、口、意。 因為語言可以大量被複製和流傳， 而導致資訊爆發（現在還講資訊爆發好像倒退20年，早就沒有人還在意資訊爆發了）。 所有不正的語言都源自不正的見。 當我說：你所看的所有影片、讀的所有文章，都是別人挑選過編輯過加工過的，有目的的。 更深切的事實是，我們的大腦的作用方式，本來就是把perception與既有的記憶分類結合， 並把事物貼上標籤，以毫秒的速度把世界加工後呈現為feelings & mental formations 痛苦？ 真的有痛苦嗎？ ‘我’不過是一堆地水火風而已，地水火風有痛苦嗎？ ‘有苦’是我們的想像、認知，‘有樂’也是我們的想像、認知。 那我們還費盡心思地創造了 永樂的天堂、永苦的地獄。

成佛有什麼用？What is the use of becoming a Buddha? This is a rhetorical question often asked by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. We always have the presumption that life is for a purpose and every thing we do should contribute to that purpose, otherwise it's useless. This ubiquitous utilitarianism dominates our modern society. It's so deep and prevalent that we can't even recognize we are acting under its influence. I was reading the book "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh this week. He emphasizes on being mindful of one's breath, body movements, feelings and emotions a lot. That means we should be aware of our in breath and out breath at every moment, even when we are doing our work or talking to somebody.  While I seem to know what he's saying, I don't really understand why we should do that? Why should we be aware of our breath when it goes so well automatically? Why do we bother to mind it if human beings have evolved such a long way to make our

Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers. Hello, welcome back to this podcast. I'm Jill. Today, I want to share a topic called happiness or suffering, you may want to think again. We all want crave happiness and we all want try to avoid suffering. But have you ever thought about what really is happiness truly considered what happiness really means ? What makes us happy truly brings us joy and what makes us suffer causes us pain ?