It's sometimes difficult for me to write, as I am very fatigued, but I decided to write something anyways since today is the weekly deadline. So this may be short and not as all-encompassing as I would like, but it's better than not writing at all…      read more »

I am so grateful that CSLDallas will be hosting us for the next few months while we continue to search for our own building to rent. I hope to see all of you this Sunday 5 pm and all Sundays in August. The theme is "MEDITATION 101" …      read more »

Beginning today on Earth Day, I am requesting that you hold me and yourself and others in daily HEALING prayers and meditations, for the next 60 days until Summer Solstice. Here is a sample HEALING PRAYER which you can use each day …      read more »

From EASTER to WESAK, join Brother ChiSing in spirit for two months in being inspired by both Jesus and Buddha (and Others) to a more dedicated daily spiritual practice of mindful living HERE AND NOW. Let our Enlightenment begin within our own inner lives and ripple out positively for world transformation …      read more »

Today is a very special day in the Zen Buddhist calendar. Today, we celebrate the Buddha's Enlightenment on December 8 (in the Japanese calendar). Thousands of Zen Buddhists in America and across the world are celebrating last week or this week by meditating all day long for up to seven days in a row in "sesshin" (retreat). Let us practice at least an hour of meditation today and this week in solidarity. Let us give thanks for the Buddha's Enlightenment, and the enlightenment of all our ancestral spiritual Teachers since then up to the present, including Thich Nhat Hanh (and let us continue to pray for his healing recovery)…      read more »

Today, on the Full Moon of Taurus, is WESAK, which celebrates the Buddha's Birthday (around 2,600 years ago), Enlightenment (at age 35), and Passing into Great Nirvana (at age 80). Today, I am personally starting a 108-Day "Spiritual Practice Period" which will culminate around my 45th birthday on September 2. I am dedicating myself every day during these 108 days to more intensive spiritual practice as well as holistic healing. PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR WESAK CELEBRATION THIS SUNDAY, MAY 18, 5-7 PM, AT "AWAKENING HEART" @ DALLAS MEDITATION CENTER…      read more »

Happy Earth Day Week! I hope you all had a wonderfully spiritual Easter this past weekend. Mine was absolutely GLORIOUS! I had just gotten back from a 10-day Healing Qigong Retreat out in Northern California, and it was so helpful to me in my current healing process from cancer. I want all of you to check out this short POWERFUL YouTube video on "Wisdom Healing Qigong." I highly recommend this amazing practice to everyone, especially for those facing serious or chronic illness…      read more »

I have good news from the doctors this past week. According to my recent scans as compared to a couple months ago, the cancer tumor in my head has not grown. So, THANK YOU for all your affirmative prayers and healing Light meditations! I believe we can shrink this tumor together through our collective energy during the next year…      read more »

Happy New Year! Thank you to the 30 persons who attended yesterday afternoon's New Year (and New Moon!) retreat. It was such a blessing…      read more »

Today is Summer Solstice and this Sunday is the Full Moon. This weekend is the perfect time to "BEGIN ANEW" and start afresh and anew with your spiritual practices. Please renew your vows and refuges today and/or this Sunday 5-7 pm. A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to co-facilitate a beautiful meditation celebration with Rev. Michael Gott for 208 persons at the Unity Church in Houston. It was very well-received, and I have been invited to come again in the Fall. And tonight, I will be giving an Interfaith lecture on "Intro to Buddhism" there as well…      read more »

I hesitate to write this short essay, for inevitably someone may misread or misinterpret what I am saying here as a criticism rather than a critique. But, it is something I have been meaning to write about for several years now. For whatever reason, this morning, I felt an inner guidance to "write." Many of you may be familiar with the 10-day "Vipassana" meditation system as taught by Goenke…      read more »

Sunday - I arrived at the Won Dharma Center in the afternoon, meditated on my own, had a mindful silent vegetarian dinner, and took a mindful walk on the trail through some woods where I saw a male deer. I meditated some more, then I took another mindful walk after the sun was setting and saw FIREFLIES, wow! Then I went to bed. I made a commitment not to use my cell phone or a computer for at least 3 days. But alas, guess what I dreamed about tonight? I dreamt that I was typing on a computer, LOL…      read more »

Greetings, blessings and "metta" to you! I am currently on a Disney Cruise to Alaska with 8 other family members, including my parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, niece and nephew. This will be my last major vacation for the summer before I go into Autumn work mode, in which I will be present every week at the Dallas Meditation Center from August 11 until December 21 (with a couple of exceptions during my birthday week and Thanksgiving Week). I am enjoying the cruise so far…      read more »

The Pure Land path of Buddhism is a truly beautiful expression of the Dharma of "Bodhichitta." When understood at a deeper level, we realize that the "Pure Land" is a Buddha Energy Field of the collective wisdom, compassion and empowerment of the Sangha communities across time and space, here and now, as well as there and then. And "Amitabha" (Infinite Light) is our very own Buddha Nature, inherent in all beings, and fully embodied as our elder sisters and brothers, the Enlightened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Universe…      read more »

For those wishing to create a "ONE DHARMA" Book Club, my first recommendation for 2012 is the new book by Jack Kornfield entitled -- "BRINGING HOME THE DHARMA: Awakening Right Where You Are…      read more »

Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day of giving thanks. I am writing to you from a yoga/meditation retreat center in California where I am spending a few days of spiritual practice in Nature, silent solitude, healing and spiritual community. It's called "Expanding Light" and is part of Ananda Village, founded by Guru Paramhansa Yogananda's disciple, Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters). It is one of the most beautiful retreat centers I have ever visited. The people, the housing, the food, and the surroundings are just absolutely exquisite. There is such a feeling of peace, love, and joy here. What a blessing. And very encouraging. There is hope in the world indeed…      read more »

Happy 11-11-11, a day to be reminded of Oneness, Synchronicity and Alignment! I hope you can all attend one of the three events today at the Dallas Meditation Center (11:11 am, 7:11-9:11 pm, and 11:11 pm). Otherwise, please practice meditation and mindful living with us in spirit and in solidarity wherever you are. Today, you can let go of the past and start over again, beginning anew and afresh, here and now. Release, forgive and move forward. "Let go and let God, let be and let Buddha." The next 13 months on the planet are a critical time of reflection, decision and a chance to turn things around…      read more »

If you are able to meditate at least 20 minutes every day, what a wonderful gift you are receiving and giving! But if not, do not worry, for you can always practice "Mindfulness of the Buddhas" at any time throughout the day or night. One way to practice "Buddha-Mindfulness" is to chant "AMITABHA" (Infinite Light). To practice chanting "Amitabha" is a gift of support to you from all Enlightened Ones. And it is also a gift you are giving to all suffering beings. To meditate, or to chant, is always a gift that you are both receiving and giving simultaneously…      read more »

Continue to intensify your commitments to mindfulness, meditation and enlightened living. If you have slacked off a bit, just start over today, or start over this weekend, or start over on Sunday. Every week, just start over again. The ability to let go of the past without regret or judgment, and to begin anew again today, fresh and open, here and now, is POWERFUL and will serve you on your path to full enlightenment and Buddhahood. It does not matter how many times you fall. What matters is how many times you get up again and start over…      read more »

I want to encourage you to make a 2-year commitment to the Path of Enlightenment STARTING TODAY, culminating on 12-21-12, and extending beyond that for the rest of your life and lifetimes. Commit yourself to honoring the Buddha and all Enlightened Teachers. Commit yourself to meditation, spiritual study and mindful living every day. Commit yourself to supporting the Sangha, monks and nuns, Awakening Heart / Dallas Meditation Center, and all your fellow practitioners…      read more »

Today marks the halfway point in our 10*10*10 Ten-Week "Spiritual Practice Period." Reflect today on how it is going so far. Then let go of any guilt or pride, and start afresh and begin anew once again today. Feel my support, feel the support of the other 100 persons practicing with you, feel the support of all mindful practitioners, feel the support of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, feel the support of AMITABHA, the One Infinite Light beyond and within all beings and expressions. And give that support to all. This is the meaning of AMITABHA…      read more »

We have now completed two weeks of the ten-week Spiritual Practice Period. How are you doing so far? If well, wonderful! And if not so well, wonderful also! Simply let go of the past which is not real and begin anew RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW, which is the only Reality. And there is no need to place expectations on the future, which is also not real. Begin Anew Here and Now TODAY. All that is past is contained in the NOW, and all that will be future is contained in the NOW…      read more »

I am VERY excited to share with you this upcoming Spiritual Practice Period from Sunday, August 1 through 10-10-10. Please prepare yourselves for this practice this week. Re-prioritize and re-arrange your schedule so that you can go deep into this practice for the next 10 weeks. Your life will be radically transformed as we prepare for the next wave in October of the Great Shift that is taking place in consciousness worldwide.…      read more »

This morning, I meditated for an hour, using a Catholic rosary as my mala and "Amitabha" as my mantra (I seem to have lost my Buddhist meditation beads, have any of you found it yet?). In the silence of stillness, there was only the simplicity of Reality beyond the "isms" of Catholic-ism or Buddh-ism, just Life here and now, just This, just "IS".…      read more »

This year, I am starting the beginnings of a new movement called: "THE SEASON FOR ENLIGHTENMENT." It will be observed from Easter to Buddha's Birthday each year. This year, it will just be a personal and local observance. Next year, I hope to have several churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques involved, and then in 2012 I hope it will become a national movement, and then in 2013 and beyond a global movement…      read more »

Today is 11-11 (just 2 years before 11-11-11 which symbolizes "Oneness Consciousness"), and in just 40 days it will be Winter Solstice. This year's Winter Solstice is very special, because it will be exactly 3 years before the Great Winter Solstice of 2012 (the number 3 can symbolize Buddha, Dharma, Sangha). Beyond all the crazy hype around this special symbolic date of 12-21-12, the truth is that this can serve as a spiritual wake-up call and encouraging opportunity for all of us to take seriously the critical time in history in which we live. Everything is accelerating to a critical mass point, and the world needs mindful people now more than ever to help humanity shift into a more enlightened consciousness. It's up to us to choose between global breakdown or global breakthrough (or both!)…      read more »

Today is 9-09-09 (Wednesday, September 9, 2009), a wonderful day to start a new venture into your own happiness, prosperity, and enlightenment. The number 9 is all about fullness, richness, abundance, wealth and fulfillment. In the Eastern traditions, the number 108 is extremely significant for various reasons, one of which is that the numbers 1+0+8 = 9, the number of completeness, totality and success. In the Western traditions, the number 9 symbolizes the Holy Spirit, as in the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit and the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, so the number 9 is also the number of Empowerment and Manifestation…      read more »

I am on Day 24 of my 108-day Spiritual Practice Period. This past weekend, I enjoyed a "Brotherhood" Men's Retreat with six other friends at my family's vacation house on Tiki Island. Half of us are going through a midlife crisis of one sort or another, and the other half are going through young adult transitions. We learned a lot from each other and found we had more in common than we realized. Through the practice of sitting meditation, walking meditation, yoga, mindful eating, noble silence, open-hearted communication, brotherly hugs, laughter yoga, spiritual study, journal-writing and playful fun at the beach, we came to a deep place of solidarity, support and serenity…      read more »

This message was written during a writing meditation exercise at last Saturday's "Day of Mindfulness" retreat. One of my friends who was attending was having a difficult time doing the second part of the exercise. The first part is to write a letter to the Buddha, or the Universe, or God, or your Higher Self, etc. The second part is to let the Buddha (or whoever you wrote to) write a letter back to you, through you. My friend couldn't bring himself to do the second part. So, I heard my "inner Buddha" encourage me to write it for him…      read more »

Dear friend of "Awakening Heart,"

Mindfulness is not a quick-fix. Mindfulness practice is a lifestyle. It is a new habit that you need to commit to every day. It is like eating three meals a day and getting about 8 hours of sleep each night. It isn't anything extraordinary. And yet, for so long, we have been living as spiritually malnourished beings; it's as if we've only been eating one meal every few days and sleeping only a couple of hours a week. Then, when we encounter mindfulness practice, especially at a retreat, it feels extraordinary. But you can't just go to one retreat or a couple of group meditations and then stop there. You must continually commit yourself to daily practice, weekly practice, monthly practice, quarterly practice (and annual practice, if it is in your means). It's just like committing yourself to eating three nutritious meals a day and sleeping about 8 hours each night…      read more »

Dear mindful community,

This weekend is Valentine's Day, and I know that for some or many or maybe even most of you, this is not a holiday you may be looking forward to. If you are in a positive romantic relationship, I want to invite you to practice a "Spiritual Valentine's Day" this weekend. And if you are single or in a not-so-positive relationship, I also want to invite you to practice a "Spiritual Valentine's Day" weekend as well.

Here is the practice…      read more »

Namaste!

This is just a short hello letter to you from the small Dhammakaya monastery in Arlington, TX. I will write a longer letter to you next week when I leave the monastery to be with you in person once more.

After all of the meditation practice here so far, I am finding my mind to be more supple, and my heart more joyful, and my body more ACHEY....LOL! (mindful grin)…      read more »

Dear mindful friends,

Today is the 7-year anniversary (a full week of seven years) since 9-11, when America received a profound wake-up call of global emergency.

Today is also exactly one month before the birthday of one of humanity's most precious spiritual resources, our beloved teacher and Zen Master, the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (October 11)...      read more »

Dear mindful friends,

I am writing this letter to you from Deer Park Monastery in Escondido near San Diego, California. This morning, I woke up at 5:00 am and walked over to the main hall for the morning meditation at 5:45 am. The sitting began with the deep sounds of the bell and a hauntingly beautiful chant in Vietnamese, sung by one of the venerable older monks. 45 minutes went by smoothly and swiftly in a profound silence, broken only with a cough or two by one of the lay brothers in the hall...      read more »

Dear Dharma sisters and brothers,

NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHAYA!
I bow in gratitude to the "Infinite Light of Awakening" that you truly are!

Today is the 8th day of the New Year and also the first New Moon of the year. We have successfully lived through the first week of 2008 which I am calling "The Year of the Waking Buddha" (see my letter from New Year's Day)...      read more »

"Year of the Waking Buddha"

Dear mindful friends,

Today is the first day of a very exciting year in spiritual history.

2007 was a year of equanimity, of letting go, of patience and of expanding our horizons. It was a year of recovering our foundations (1st chakra); it was the beginnings of "The Great Shift" in anticipation of a possible future "Global Awakening." And it was a "wake-up call" year.      read more »

August is "Committing to the Path of Awakening" Month. And I am encouraging you to examine your life today and this week to see what you would like to do in order to commit yourself more fully to the Path of Awakening.

According to some studies, it takes about 3-4 months (which is about 108 days) to effectively change an old habit and form a new habit. I want to challenge you to make a commitment starting sometime this month for 108 days -- a commitment to forming a new habit of daily meditation at home, weekly meditation with a group, a monthly "Day of Mindfulness" retreat (alone or with a group), and a quarterly weekend retreat (as well as an annual weeklong retreat, if that is within your means)...      read more »