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In her book, Watching The Tree, author and medical doctor, Adeline Yen Mah, explains that
The word for 'physician' in Chinese is yi sheng (healer of life) which denotes "a holistic herbal approach as contrasted to the western view of the physician as a curer of disease."
Dr. Mah adds that "traditional Chinese 'medicine' consist not of injections, pills and elixirs" but largely of plant based ingredients brewed into a tea, a soup or a stew.
Much like Ayurveda, the traditional Chinese approach is that food is medicine. A healthy diet prevents disease and illness from emerging and when there is an imbalance in the body, it can often be corrected by a dietary change.
The word for 'physician' in Chinese is yi sheng (healer of life) which denotes "a holistic herbal approach as contrasted to the western view of the physician as a curer of disease."
Dr. Mah adds that "traditional Chinese 'medicine' consist not of injections, pills and elixirs" but largely of plant based ingredients brewed into a tea, a soup or a stew.
Much like Ayurveda, the traditional Chinese approach is that food is medicine. A healthy diet prevents disease and illness from emerging and when there is an imbalance in the body, it can often be corrected by a dietary change.
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Don’t think that you’re different, that you can escape suffering because you’re special or wiser than others. It’s the arrogance of the ego to think you’re better, that you can avoid the difficulties and problems that everyone else faces in life. - Ajahn Brahm
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“When touched with a feeling of pain, uninstructed ordinary persons sorrow, grieve, and lament, beat their breasts, become distraught. They feel two pains, physical and mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows, in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed ordinary persons sorrow, grieve, and lament, beat their breasts, become distraught. They feel two pains, physical and mental.”—Buddha Shakyamuni, Sallattha Sutta
The first arrow is the unavoidable fact of suffering. The second arrow is our own mental proliferation about the fact of suffering. While there is only so much we can do about avoiding the first arrow, avoiding the second arrow is entirely possible. - Lama Tashi Nyima
The first arrow is the unavoidable fact of suffering. The second arrow is our own mental proliferation about the fact of suffering. While there is only so much we can do about avoiding the first arrow, avoiding the second arrow is entirely possible. - Lama Tashi Nyima
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Buddhism does not demand asceticism from all believers where daily life is concerned. Regarding food, one should eat one’s fill; regarding clothing, one should dress appropriately. However, not one should use resources wastefully. - Hsing Yun
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Why do you speak to
your lowest self?
What if you spoke to
to your highest self?
- Victor M. parachin
your lowest self?
What if you spoke to
to your highest self?
- Victor M. parachin
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The person who has been most influential in bringing Ayurveda to the West is Dr. Vasant Lad. Both my partner and I study with him. He's a remarkable human and his contribution to the expansion of Ayurveda in the West is immense. Interviewed for the website Mind Body Green, Dr. Lad was asked how he came to study Ayurveda. Here's his answer:
When I was a child back in the 50's my grandmother got very sick. We were very close and it was painful for me to see her so sick. She had a Nephrotic Syndrome with high blood pressure and swelling. The doctor at the local hospital was not even able to feel her pulse due to swelling. There were no powerful antibiotics or diuretics at that time and we were told that there was no way to help her. Reluctant to give up, my father called an Ayurvedic doctor, who made a special formula for my grandmother. He gave me precise instructions that I had to follow to prepare a daily ayurvedic concoction for her. Using 7 different herbs, carefully measuring their correct proportions, I would boil them down into a thick brew to give to my grandmother. Miraculously, in three weeks grandmother's swelling was gone, blood pressure was back to normal and kidney function improved. My grandmother happily lived until 95 and an old Ayurvedic doctor who had me making the daily concoction told my father to send me to an Ayurvedic Medicine school. Here I am now.
When I was a child back in the 50's my grandmother got very sick. We were very close and it was painful for me to see her so sick. She had a Nephrotic Syndrome with high blood pressure and swelling. The doctor at the local hospital was not even able to feel her pulse due to swelling. There were no powerful antibiotics or diuretics at that time and we were told that there was no way to help her. Reluctant to give up, my father called an Ayurvedic doctor, who made a special formula for my grandmother. He gave me precise instructions that I had to follow to prepare a daily ayurvedic concoction for her. Using 7 different herbs, carefully measuring their correct proportions, I would boil them down into a thick brew to give to my grandmother. Miraculously, in three weeks grandmother's swelling was gone, blood pressure was back to normal and kidney function improved. My grandmother happily lived until 95 and an old Ayurvedic doctor who had me making the daily concoction told my father to send me to an Ayurvedic Medicine school. Here I am now.
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wished a happy Vesak Day, which celebrates the Buddha’s birthday, to Buddhists around the world on behalf of the US government.
“On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I extend our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Vesak Day around the world. As Buddhist communities everywhere celebrate the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, we pause to reflect on and honor the universal values of peace, tolerance and compassion the founder of Buddhism embodied. The United States is proud to host a vibrant and diverse Buddhist community, as it joins Buddhists around the world in celebrating Vesak Day. Buddhism’s spiritual and cultural contributions have enriched our shared human heritage over more than two millennia. We wish you all a joyous and peaceful Vesak.”
“On behalf of the people of the United States of America, I extend our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Vesak Day around the world. As Buddhist communities everywhere celebrate the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, we pause to reflect on and honor the universal values of peace, tolerance and compassion the founder of Buddhism embodied. The United States is proud to host a vibrant and diverse Buddhist community, as it joins Buddhists around the world in celebrating Vesak Day. Buddhism’s spiritual and cultural contributions have enriched our shared human heritage over more than two millennia. We wish you all a joyous and peaceful Vesak.”
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. . . drop your expectations!
That's the wisdom and advice offered by modern Chinese Zen Master Sheng Yen. Whether you are at an evening meditation retreat or one for a weekend or longer, arrive without expectations. Here's how Master Sheng explains:
"The sole purpose of a meditation retreat is to meditate. You should keep your attention entirely on practice, without trying to attain any results. Since many of you have traveled far, or have worked hard to set aside the time, you have a great deal invested in this retreat. It is natural that you want to gain something. But once you enter the retreat you must put aside any specific hopes.
"Practicing with a goal in mind is like trying to catcha feather with a fan. The more kyou go after it, the more it eludes you. But if you sneak up on it slowly, you can grab it. The aim of practice is to develop patience and forbearance,t o train your mind to become calm and stable. Any attachment or seeking will prevent your mind from settling down."
That's the wisdom and advice offered by modern Chinese Zen Master Sheng Yen. Whether you are at an evening meditation retreat or one for a weekend or longer, arrive without expectations. Here's how Master Sheng explains:
"The sole purpose of a meditation retreat is to meditate. You should keep your attention entirely on practice, without trying to attain any results. Since many of you have traveled far, or have worked hard to set aside the time, you have a great deal invested in this retreat. It is natural that you want to gain something. But once you enter the retreat you must put aside any specific hopes.
"Practicing with a goal in mind is like trying to catcha feather with a fan. The more kyou go after it, the more it eludes you. But if you sneak up on it slowly, you can grab it. The aim of practice is to develop patience and forbearance,t o train your mind to become calm and stable. Any attachment or seeking will prevent your mind from settling down."
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My time is my most precious possession, so I am very careful how I use it.
- Thubten Chodron
- Thubten Chodron