Buddha Blog English Podcast Episode 12

Buddhism in everyday life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

This podcast is largely funded by its listeners. I would be happy to welcome you as a supporter as well. Thank you to everyone who supports Buddha Blog in their own way.

Contents of the podcast:

01.) Nets

02.) Empty hands

03.) Open eyes

04.) My Superfoods Part 8

05.) The Buddha Doctrine

06.) Unconditional Love

07.) How we perceive reality

08.) The One is the Basis

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Support me, contribute to the extensive costs of this publication. Your support can help to continue the important work we are doing for Buddhism (my team and I). Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Via PayPal (click here)

or by bank transfer:

Account holder: Rainer Deyhle, Postbank, IBAN: DE57700100800545011805, BIC: PBNKDEFF

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Do you sometimes have the feeling that you are caught in a net and that you can no longer get away from the spot?

The nets, in which you are today inevitably, these have not only woven you, other people build their own nets, which then collide with you and their karma (and your entanglements). Also, these may have been created a very long time ago, are not just created. We are entangled in many networks, some of which were created hundreds (or even thousands) of years ago. As an example, the Bible could be mentioned here, or other religious works that were created in long past lives, but still have power and influence on people today, in the "good" as well as in the "bad" sense.

We are the product of time and the history of human development, the events of our ancestors are stored in us and our DNA, all knowledge finds its image in us, like with cobwebs we are connected with the past, whoever opens himself will experience true miracles, receive all information, see, feel and hear everything.

Webs can catch things for us, but we can also get entangled in them, they bring us down. And we are all caught in a complicated web of imprinting, upbringing and experience, we may not see what is going on outside the nets, what real life (without rules) would be like.

Only we ourselves get entangled in these nets, because they are not real, they are only objects in our thought palace, outside such weavings cannot exist, we humans are their host. If you decide (for yourself) that you no longer want to be a prisoner of these webs, then it will be so. It is a decision whether we want to put an end to it or not.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Buddha Blog English Podcast Episode 11

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

This podcast is largely funded by its listeners. I would be happy to welcome you as a supporter as well. Thank you to everyone who supports Buddha Blog in their own way.

Contents of the podcast:

01.) Ananda
02.) Anxiety as a disease
03.) Dying
04.) Memories
05.) The water glass
06.) Loneliness
07.) The sky
08.) Free of charge

Especially in early Buddhist teaching discourses, meditation through breathing (and concentration on it) is emphasized. Probably the most widespread form of meditation today is breath meditation after sitting exercises.

In the so-called "Ananda Sutra", Ananda (an eminent disciple of the great teacher) asks the Buddha for instruction on the subject of breathing. The sutra has been worked on over the centuries, translated back and forth into all languages. It is the contemplation of breath and the related causes of awakening that are discussed, which has generated controversial approaches.

Buddha taught his model disciple Ananda to build up, with and through breathing, a contemplation of the body, the sensations, the mind, and the very philosophy of the enlightened one. For the less practiced devotee, a program was developed to achieve concentration on the breath. The increased spectrum of mindfulness brings practitioners ever closer to awakening.

This is how I have heard most Buddhist teaching discourses begin. Ananda asked his master how to go about the intense practice.

Buddha answered him that the mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation is to be practiced. Through mindfulness, awakening occurs, followed by wisdom and liberation.

When breathing out, the seeker practices mindfulness of passing away; when breathing in, he practices mindfulness of arising. Whether the breathing is long or short, the important thing is to experience the bodily formation, the great teacher explained, while practicing the calming of the bodily limitations.

Then comes the moment when the student experiences real joy and happiness while practicing the breathing and sensations, experiencing and calming the mental formations. 

Did you enjoy the podcast?

Thank you for listening to Buddha Blog. Did you notice that there are no ads running here, that you are not inundated with consumer messages?

Would you like to thank the author of this blog for his work with a donation? 

Support me, contribute to the extensive costs of this publication. Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Via PayPal (click here)

or by bank transfer:

Account holder: Rainer Deyhle, Postbank, IBAN: DE57700100800545011805, BIC: PBNKDEFF

1000 thanks!

Copyright https://shaolin-rainer.de

Please download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Buddha Blog English Podcast Episode 10

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

This podcast is largely funded by its listeners. I would be happy to welcome you as a supporter as well. Thank you to everyone who supports Buddha Blog in their own way.

Contents of the podcast:

01.) 5 monkeys
02.) The 9 essential features
03.) Nothing is certain
04.) The karma
05.) Is there a method to the madness?
06.) The pathless way
07.) Injustice
08.) Aggression drive
09.) Attention to the breath

Did you enjoy the podcast?

Thank you for listening to Buddha Blog. Did you notice that there are no ads running here, that you are not inundated with consumer messages?

Would you like to thank the author of this blog for his work with a donation? 

Support me, contribute to the extensive costs of this publication. Your support can help to continue the important work we are doing for Buddhism (my team and I). Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Via PayPal (click here)

or by bank transfer:

Account holder: Rainer Deyhle, Postbank, IBAN: DE57700100800545011805, BIC: PBNKDEFF; Germany

1000 thanks!

Copyright https://shaolin-rainer.de

The 9 essential features

The 9 positive characteristics of every Buddhist should be known to people, the Buddha's teaching finds its deeper expression in these characteristics.

1. morality

Morals are debatable, but every human being has a standard deep inside him/her, he/she knows what is right and what is not. Morality is a high human quality.

2. patience

He who is patient develops patience, so taught the wise Buddha. To wait calmly is a very positive quality. Instead of stressing and rushing, just wait for things to come. Doing our things patiently, listening to the body, that is a high quality.

3. renunciation

Whoever can renounce is on the way to "enlightenment", because whoever does not really want or desire can practice renunciation. But whoever thinks that he/she always comes up short, that everything has to be much more, will go through the hard school of life, only to have an open ear for Buddhism at the end, when nothing is possible anymore. Renunciation is a high quality.

4. diligence 

Buddha exhorted his followers to always be diligent. For example, farmers should sow the seeds, but not worry about the harvest, but simply work diligently on the things that present themselves for work. Diligence is a human quality that has little to do with success. Whoever is industrious does not necessarily have to be successful. In any case, diligence is a high quality.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Buddha Blog English Podcast Episode 9

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

This podcast is largely funded by its listeners. I would be happy to welcome you as a supporter as well. Thank you to everyone who supports Buddha Blog in their own way.

Contents of the podcast:

01.) Learning to say "no"
02.) Spontaneous
03.) The six windows of man
04.) The threefold emptiness
05.) Is there a "Deja Vu"?
06.) No time
07.) Generosity
08.) Need for care
09.) Answering machine

Did you enjoy the podcast?

Thank you for listening to Buddha Blog. Did you notice that there are no ads running here, that you are not inundated with consumer messages?

Would you like to thank the author of this blog for his work with a donation? 

Support me, contribute to the extensive costs of this publication. Your support can help to continue the important work we are doing for Buddhism (my team and I). Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Via PayPal (hier klicken)

oder per Überweisung:

Kontoinhaber: Rainer Deyhle, Postbank, IBAN: DE57700100800545011805, BIC: PBNKDEFF

1000 Dank!

Copyright https://shaolin-rainer.de

Learning to say "no"

Even Buddhists get into unpleasant situations again and again, who stands in real life, who has to make many decisions, sees people, experiences incidents, lives not always only pleasant.

Sometimes a decision has to be made, you can't always let everything go, going with the flow is not always an option.

It is particularly painful for many people to simply say "no", as this inevitably leads to disappointment among those who have counted on a "yes".

Can you lend me money? Can I stay up late? Will you buy me this? Do you want? Will you do it? Can you?

The answer cannot always be YES, the answer cannot always be positive. If you always buy your children sweets (because they whine), you participate in their later problems, you are the so-called co-dependent, you should simply say NO, but you cannot. Why is it like that?

Saying no can be learned, even if one is naturally afraid of the consequences. In any case, the followers of Buddha also have a bad conscience.

Who doesn't know it when the "yes" should actually be a "no", but the emotions get in the way of our true self?

But why don't we just say no, if we want to say no, how does the yes come over our lips? Yes, the feelings of guilt, and a No has anyhow consequences, from which we want to shirk, in the end it is laziness, or cowardice, but in no way a glory.

Then weigh up what a yes or a no would "cost" you.

Say "no" often, this is a good character training, not everything is gold that glitters.

Never say "yes" when you mean "no"! The way is the goal!

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Contents of the podcast:

01.) The 10 powers of the Buddha
02.) The 10 powers of the Buddha part 2
03.) The four fearlessnesses of the Buddha
04.) The Suffering of Souls
05.) Why we fall in love
06.) Inflated by arrogance
07.) My refrigerator
08.) Pretentious 
09.) Am I cursed?
10.) We
11.) Growing with the tasks

The 10 powers of the Buddha

Every person can become a Buddha, everyone has the Buddha nature in himself.

Whoever becomes an "enlightened" being has ten powers at his disposal (as in every philosophy, scholars argue about this, too).

The first power is the one that lets the "enlightened" person distinguish the right from the wrong. If we think about it a little longer, the "right" results by itself. It is important to understand here that it is not a matter of evaluation, such as "good" or "bad", but of understanding what is right according to the philosophy of Buddha, and what is not, what is harmful to oneself or others, or not. Each one of us can distinguish the right from the wrong, everyone has this power within him/herself, the question is whether he/she dares.

The second power is the one that makes the "enlightened" person realize the consequences of his/her actions. What is the consequence if I do this now, what will happen? Each one of us can see the consequences of his/her actions, each one has this power within him/her, the question is whether he/she dares.

The third power is the one that allows the "enlightened" person to recognize the tendencies of beings, that is, to see how the counterpart is "knitted". Here the problem is that many people wish their environment "differently", thus wish and reality are not congruent. Each of us can recognize the inclinations of the beings, everyone has this power in itself, the question is whether he/she dares.

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

I am often asked about the middle path. It is also so difficult to find it and to tread it, to hold oneself in the middle.

The middle way is easy to find, it lies between the opposites. It is not affection and also not aversion, it is a sober attitude of mind. Whoever moves on this path sees things as they are, not as he/she wants them to be.

The one who likes to follow the path of Buddha, he/she lets things happen, does not resist incidents and events, does not shirk from the many people who can play a role in life. But he/she is also not dependent on the emotions he/she might develop towards things, people and incidents, because in the middle lies the solution.

At the edges of the path are the extremes, "sky-high-cheering", or "to-death-distressed", which quickly bring us "out of step", or even to fall.

The middle way is harmonious, it feels good and right, immediately you feel the whole universe under your feet, your being is in harmony with the environment, mindfulness suddenly comes easy, hurting other living beings is impossible.

Now one doesn't want anything, doesn't need "it" either, "one" is without fears and hardships, because "one" "knows" about the connections, the middle way simply does good. The fights in the thought palace come to an end, the attachments become weaker, the breathing can go into every corner of the body, because we are no longer attached to it either. Where the path leads us, who knows, who really wants to know the future, because deep inside, there we already know everything anyway, the past, the present and the future become one.

The middle way brings peace, tranquility and clarity, those who live with the extremes cannot find their true personality, because it will remain hidden under shards and rubble. Those who believe that the "dance on the volcano" is the right way will not read my texts anyway, those who think about it are at least interested.

The middle way can also lead astray, at every crossroads we can turn, left, right, ahead or back, we can also settle down right here, maybe build a house, raise children. Again and again we have to ask ourselves if we are "still" on the middle path.

Stay in the middle, and be free. Because the way is the goal!

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

The karma is our driving force, the energy that is inside us, which contains all the stimuli that we need for speaking, acting and thinking.

This drive is fed by the filters that we have formed through our past behavior, which then map our habits, determine our nerves, our thoughts, the coming emotions, our whole self.

Surely you have had the feeling that sometimes you act as if under compulsion, that you just have to do certain things, that is then your karma.

The common view in the West, that karma represents destiny because we have angered the higher powers, that doesn't go far enough. Our karma is not determined by the gods, but we ourselves are responsible for our karma (from this life, but also from previous lives). For the karma from this life we are then directly to blame, the karma acquired in previous lives must answer for our previous incarnations.

Drinking alcohol is a very good example of the development of karma. We start drinking young, we get used to the alcohol and the circumstances, we also find drinking sociable and cheerful, quickly we want more of the good drops, we develop a dependency. Instead of consuming less, we want more, the border to alcoholism is quickly crossed. The result is a damaged liver, even our friendships are based on consumption, alcoholics just get together, teetotalers just don't fit in. We have developed this behavior ourselves, no one has forced us.

If we now stop drinking, stop the habit, our environment will change completely, socializing can be experienced differently. There will be much more money in the wallet, maybe other friends will be found, karma will develop the way it is supposed to develop. According to Buddha, everything is written, so also whether we can pick ourselves up or not. Whether we act, speak or think this way or that way, all this is our karma.

Even though everything is already written, we still have choices, we can influence the maturing of karma. Nevertheless, life follows our film, the script is fixed, the actors too, but there are alternative scripts, branches, we can choose right away, do we want another beer, or better not?

Buddhist teachings and contemplation can help us to find our karma, to find the buried personality under the mountains of debris, and then to live as the right turn brings.

The path is the goal!

Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

"Buddha-Blog English" in the Apple and Android App stores.

Shaolin-Rainer ++ Buddhism in everyday life ++ mindfulness in daily activities ++ the buddhist blog ++ the app for buddhists

Buddha Blog Podcast Episode 05 - Who am I?

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

Heaven is the same for all people, whether young or old, sick or healthy, everyone sees the same heaven. That is how "one" should think!

What is different in any case for each viewer of the sky, are the emotions and feelings that arise at the sight of the sky.

One person enjoys the spectacle of nature, another one grumbles about the cloudiness, yet another one feels nothing, the whole affair passes him by without a trace.

With this example you can easily see how simply constructed we humans are, that there are no generally valid rules, nor can there be. Everything is a question of the personal perspective, the chosen filters, the imprinting, the cultural circle, the education, the made experiences. What one observer finds beautiful, that disturbs the person right next to it incredibly.

According to the Buddhist philosophy, we should not make any judgments, but we can feel very well, but according to Buddha's teaching, we should not divide into "good" or "bad".

Every sky is special, every sight is unique, every piece of the sky is different. But what remains the same for every observer is that the attitude to it comes out of him/her, not the cloudy sky makes us discontented, no, we are so tuned, all emotions are self-chosen, we decide whether we adjust our perspective, or not.

I once saw a movie about a mentally handicapped girl who looked at the sky day and night, every possible minute. She was fascinated by the sight, when she could not look "up" she was totally unhappy. I was very impressed by this firmness, by the devotion, by the fire that radiated from her eyes. Whoever can feel such enthusiasm for the sky is perhaps already "enlightened".

When you look at the sky again on the next occasion then you should try to be a neutral observer, to take note of the beauty, to enjoy it, but not to wish for anything.

The sky is different every moment, every day, depending on countless factors, but we as Buddhists (try to) take in the sight with stoic serenity, enjoying the beauty of the moment, resting contentedly in the here and now.

Life can change quickly, as can the sky, and we must never forget this. The sky and we, connected in the universe, linked with a silent condition. There was a time when the universe contracted, now it expands. Every moment is infinitely precious.

Because the way is the goal!

Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

"Buddha-Blog English" in the Apple and Android App stores.

Shaolin-Rainer ++ Buddhism in everyday life ++ mindfulness in daily activities ++ the buddhist blog ++ the app for buddhists

Buddha Blog Podcast Episode 04 - English

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

The life of every person is characterized especially by turning points, by the moments that shape the destiny, that determine the further future.

If you think about the matter carefully then some such turning points come to your mind, such as the birth of your children, meeting your partner, big family celebrations, or the many but smaller things that have brought your life in a certain direction.

Every crossroads is such a turning point for us, we can either go to work in the morning, or leave behind the life we have led until now, start over, move away. Surely you know the story of the man who just went out for cigarettes, but never came back.

Nothing has to be the same tomorrow as it is today, every day you can change your life, whether in a big way or in a small way, nothing is "set in stone", everything is constantly changing, so why should you always remain the same person?

What would you like to change? What in the short term, what in the medium term, what in the long term? Where do you see yourself in a few weeks, in a few months, in a few years? What is important to you?

The turning points in my life, I can remember them well, my high school graduation, my law studies in Hamburg, my time in China and the USA, my wedding, the birth of my daughter, the separation from my family, the many small incidents, when I think about them while writing this text, there were some important moments.

I wonder what the future may bring, certainly some turning points again, but now I am older, can I appreciate these moments when they happen?

And you? Will you notice the next turning points, or just live through the day unaware of the implications?

According to Buddha, all moments are the same anyway; according to the great teacher, we should not put too much significance into the sequence of days, but look for "enlightenment" as the essence of philosophy.

Are you ready to review your life once, to remember the special moments, and then to put them in relation to the teaching of the teacher of all teachers?

The way is the goal!


Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

"Buddha-Blog English" in the Apple and Android App stores.

Shaolin-Rainer ++ Buddhism in everyday life ++ mindfulness in daily activities ++ the buddhist blog ++ the app for buddhists

Buddha Blog Podcast Episode 03 - English Version

Buddhism in everyday life - Mindfulness in daily life

Please also download my app "Buddha-Blog English" from the Apple and Android stores.

I deal with death all the time, I don't like it, I try not to think about it. This is what an acquaintance said to me recently.

Yet most people feel the same way, death is a scary part of life, it overshadows the entire human cycle.

In all previous cultures, death was the engine of evolution, the final solution comes from many excuses.

We will die, that part is clear, but we all hope it will be quick and painless. And, of course, to last a long time until this very personal appointment that no one can escape.

The Aztecs and the Mayans subjected the prisoners to macabre rituals, the ancient Egyptians tried to live forever as mummies, so the problem of transience was always clearly there, was the emotional weak point in the history of human development.

Where do we come from, where are we going? Is death the end? Or is there something after it? According to Buddha, we are subject to the cycle of rebirths, we have to be born again and again, age, get sick and die. So, according to the great teacher, we pass into an intermediate world, where we gather, and then pass into the next incarnation.

Are you also concerned with death? Are you afraid of it, of the body burning up, the spirit going out?

What will happen when we have found a new incarnation? When and where will that be? Questions upon questions. There things appear briskly in a new light, life takes place in the here and now.

If we think about it carefully, we quickly realize how we will die, when it will be. The phenomenon comes closer to us, many things we "know", although we try to forget them. The world is getting rougher and rougher, those who know fate know how the future will be. The old rituals no longer work, illusions are getting weaker, Buddhists can see behind the scenes.

Do you need proof, or do the connections become clear to you? Despite human decay, life is wonderful, moments are unique, focus on the philosophy of the teacher of all teachers.

Mysterious fog of history makes death look like a transfigured mystery, but it is not like that. Dying is violent, about personality decided coincidences, but Buddha taught that there are no coincidences. Torn from life, death comes relentlessly upon every individual.

How will we react when the time comes?

The way is the goal!


Copyright: https://shaolin-rainer.de

"Buddha-Blog English" in the Apple and Android App stores.