Category Archives: Dharma Voyager – Zen Explorations
The Middle Way (Eightfold Path) – Realistic Effort
These “middle way “posts were originally going to be my attempt at diving into each of the Eightfold Path and see if I could gather as much as I could in one pass. After the first pass I would then see how much I could incorporate into my life. This approach seemed the most straight [...]
The Buddha Taught: The Four Noble Truths
In my quest to learn more about Buddhism, in particular about Zen Buddhism, I have come to realize some core teachings of the Buddha that apply to all branches of Buddhism. One of these core Buddhist teachings is known as the Four Noble Truths, and was known to be taught by the Buddha himself. I [...]
A Brief History of Zen – Rinzai and Soto
Once again, the Second Life discussion group has brought up some topics that I had begun a article about (funny how that to works). This one was scheduled to be posted later in the week, but the timing seem right for now. This post describes a little more in text than timeline the origins of [...]
Taking Refuge – Buddhism’s Three Treasures
The definition of “take” is some how to capture something, and bring it into your possession. The definition of “refuge” is shelter, relief, comfort, especially in times of trouble. – This is my first article on some of the “technical” aspects of Buddhism. These aspects are ones that are outside of meditation, but are tools [...]
Linking to the History of Zen Buddhism – Grasping At Context (by Babblefrog)
This article will attempt to provide some context about Zen Buddhism. I will provide links to much of the content, because let’s face it, I am no expert in Zen Buddhist history. We should leave the history to those more knowledgeable than I. The following table will provide a small time line, with some notable [...]
Recommended Way to Meditate: Getting into the Mood
In the last post, “Zazen (Mediation): The Heart of the Matter“, I wrote about zazen, some common questions and a real simple way I look at it. But just because the way of doing zazen is simple, that doesn’t mean that performing zazen is easy. In the article “Touching the Earth” I wrote about one [...]
Zazen (Meditation) : The Heart of the Matter
I thought about doing a couple articles before I hit on the subject of meditation, but then I thought… if zazen is really the meat and potatoes of Zen Buddhism, why wait? This article is about zazen or meditation practice. -DV – I always seem to get a lot of questions on the topic of [...]
Do We Need "The Buddha" or Just "The Practice?" – Bang for the Buck Buddhism
Some people think that in order to really appreciate something you need to know the origins of that thing. But do we need to know the origin of Buddhism or Buddha to really gain the benefits of the teachings of Buddhism? I have often wondered this question when I want to practice but yet have [...]
