Look with your heart

On some days we feel so lonely, so separate from everyone else. We might think that nobody can understand us. On difficult days we might feel vulnerable and it is easy to drown in suffering. Let me take your hand. Let me take you into the forest to observe. 

We can enjoy the quiet peacefulness of the soft green moss; we can dwell in the solidity of the trees and in the freshness of clear streams. Looking only superficially you might get the impression that the trees are isolated. You might see lonesome tree trunks carrying the weight of heavy branches by themselves. Let us take a closer look though, let us look with our hearts. All those fir trees, the spruces, the beech trees and even the small saplings have deep roots under the earth. Using only your eyes you cannot look under the earth. That doesn’t mean that those roots don’t exist. 

Christmas Songs | And More Children's Songs!

The Pointer

 

 The Zen teacher’s dog loved his evening romp with his master. The dog would bound ahead to fetch a stick, then run back, wag his tail, and wait for the next game. On this particular evening, the teacher invited one of his brightest students to join him – a boy so intelligent that he became troubled by the contradictions in Buddhist doctrine.

“You must understand,” said the teacher, “that words are only guideposts. Never let the words or symbols get in the way of truth. Here, I’ll show you.”

With that the teacher called his happy dog.

“Fetch me the moon,” he said to his dog and pointed to the full moon.

“Where is my dog looking?” asked the teacher of the bright pupil.

“He’s looking at your finger.”

“Exactly. Don’t be like my dog. Don’t confuse the pointing finger with the thing that is being pointed at. All our Buddhist words are only guideposts. Every man fights his way through other men’s words to find his own truth.”

Cliffhanger

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice.
As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine.
Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!
- See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/10-short-zen-stories/#sthash.1RvinXoj.dpuf

Tibetan Bowl - Deep Eseoteric Healing Vibrations

from Klaus aus Freiburg im Breisgau

Dear Thay Phap Nhat,

thank you very much for your wonderful teachings last weekend.

I am still impressed of everything that happened in waldbröl.

Never before I  left a seminar in such a good mood.

I am so gratefull, that I had the chance to meet you.

And I wish to meet you again soon.

Unfortunately I cannot join you in your vietnam trip this year, hoping that you will do it again.

Please let me know, when you are in the southwest of germany,

please let me know if I can do anything for you.

I am looking forward to a short answer, so I know my email arrived

chuc may man

Klaus aus Freiburg im Breisgau

what lies behind us

and what lies before us

is nothing compared

to what lies within us