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I will kill you but not myself
In April 2023, I published a blog post where I shared a Zen story (koan). I don’t think many people understood this. Let me explain. This is a conversation between a disciple (monk) and his Master, named Ts’ao-shan. Let’s discuss this in detail. The conversation goes something like this: Monk: “Who is he in our…
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It’s Not a Big Deal
I will let you in on one of my secrets of life. It’s not a big deal. That’s it. To understand (not believe or pray or pretend but to actually understand) that it’s not a big deal. Almost nothing is. In life, you will come across several occasions that cause you deep anxiety and sorrow.…
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The 3 Paths to Enlightenment
There are 3 paths to spiritual enlightenment- gyan yoga, karma yoga, and bhakti yoga. Gyan yoga is enlightenment through knowledge. Knowledge of what is real and what is not, what is true and what is untrue. It’s not as complicated because everything is unreal and untrue except awareness which you already are. But the trick…
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KOANS
Koans are important expedient measures to encourage the prepared minds to suddenly see the truth by unseeing the false and realizing the futility of efforts. These koans were popularized in the Zen tradition of Buddhism- both Soto and Rinzai sects, but mostly in the Rinzai sect. These Koans are usually in the form of questions,…
Bishal Gyawali 