Everytime I see Dr. Robert Waldinger he just seems so happy and peaceful, he radiates that calmness and that alone to me means he's probably doing something right.
Hmm.. I find that smile annoys me. Not sure why...maybe I have bad experience with people pretending to be that happy. Oh wait, it reminds me of the self-rightuous smirks of "religious" people. Well Buddhism IS a religion. Maybe that's part of it that makes me weary. Luckily I can listen to him without having to look at him. Makes me think Zen philosophy is to a great degree the same as Stoicism apart from the meditation and hard to pronounce untranslatable words (which this clip avoids, so that's refreshing)
@@wazzup105 I share your reaction to 'fake happy' people and to 'smugly religious' people, but I don't get either of those vibes from this man. This feels like a true calmness and a genuine appreciation of what is.
1- Impermanence, things are always changing. 2- live with suffering 3- mindfulness 4-Cling less tightly to our preferences, be flexible . 5- Loving kindness toward others, including those you don't like. 6-Remain open to many possibilities, and you will suffer less.
Perfect recipe for being easily manipulated... in a small community those principles might be nice to live by, but in this push for globalisation and multiple forms of media...
1:55 Life is suffering 3:00 Pay attention to the present moment without judgement 4:00 Cling less tightly to our preferences 5:05 Loving, kindness medication 6:30 *In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few.*
I loved this video. Sounds like Zen buddhism is a great way to navigate through modern life. I love the idea that the pain of accepting a situation is evened out by the pain relief of ceasing to try to control it. Also the idea that the escape from pain itself could be a source of pain is so fascinating to me.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
How many New Yorkers does it take to change a lightbulb? None of your business. Zen Buddhism explains very few of life's mysteries while the Buddhist school Falun Gong explains them all.
Nagarjuna's teaching on impermanence is even more liberating, paraphrasing: change is so thoroughgoing that nothing ever exists to BE impermanent. Therefore, there is no impermanence. Just change. Nothing to do but "join the dance" as Alan Watts used to say. 🙏🏻
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I studied religion at Harvard and I'm an Atheist. However, Buddhism (and some aspects of Hinduism Its parent so to speak) are more of a philosophy than a religion. And It speaks to me as more of a humanist view than a religious one. Its beautiful.
@akshaybageshwar3499 Alan Watts for one thought otherwise. I don't know that the thought was original to him, but in his lectures he used to say that Buddhism was Hinduism stripped for export.
I get the title was click baity on purpose to get views, but the message was good. As a Taiwanese-American, I wish more people would study Buddhism and Taoism. Even in china, very few chinese study these philosophies and practice daily. Zen isn't a destination, it's a daily practice. Some days you well and other days you fail and that is all part of it.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I recently is reading this book called "The power of Now". What the professor has said in this video is so align with the moral of this book. I am deeply touched by it and I believe it can be an empower school of life that deserves me to learn more about.💗
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
You explained being present in a way that no one amongst so many books or complicated words and theories have diluted. Thank you. That was powerful. The truth is always simple. Thank you for keeping it simple, and not putting your pride in it.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Wow! What an incredibly succinct and as a result, powerful presentation. This is my first experience seeing Dr. Waldinger. What a heartwarming teacher. 💕🙏🏻
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Really amazing actually. Just the methodology of thinking not the religion itself is just absolutely amazing which should be taught everywhere. It just needs to be translated differently or in other words instead of Buddhism there needs to be a new word for it or name so people don’t have predominant shade on it.
There's no need to translate it differently, but you can interpret and relate to it differently. In Christianity, we also have the spiritual, meditative, and contemplative aspect, and the same argument you presented can be applied to it as well. However, the responsibility to search for it lies on you.
I am also a practioner and dont even mind when angry people insult me. In my therapy I am supposed to learn that I have to stand up for myself. To me this seems like a step backwards. It however is true that some people dont have the environmental and social conditions necessary in order to be so mindful and loving. When I try to teach them about it, they sometimes get offended and defensive. Maybe rightfully so because it is unreasonable to expect this from people that have faced more disadvantages than us priveleged. It is kind of rich to say, I am so mindful and empathetic while not being aware that we exploit poor countries for starvation wages, giving us the necessary security to get detached. Well try to be detached when a gun is pointed at you. I hope you got the point.
It is not your responsibility to teach anyone. You are here first to gain salvation for yourself and then spread the news. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I don’t know who taught Robert here about Zen Buddhism but it wasn’t the person who taught me. Zen is SIMPLIFIED Buddhism. The idea is that all you need are the 4 noble truths, 1. Life is suffering, 2. Suffering is caused by attachments, 3. You can eliminate suffering by letting go of attachments, 4. You let go of attachments by practicing meditation. Other types of Buddhism have many religious elements which aren’t bad but they aren’t needed either.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. 1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses. 2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God. 3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One. 4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism]. 5. The Noah Family: Vedas: There Is Only One God, There Is Only One Source, There Is Only One Supply. Avesta Zoroastrian: There Is Only One Wise God, Whom Is Uncreated. Buddhist Cannon: There Is Only One God, Whom Created Good & Evil. 6. The Abraham Family: Torah [Old Testament]: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Gospel [New Testament]: I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
As a non-Buddhist, I figured this video would be the usual vacuous and deceptive New Age feel-good bullshit, so I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. This guy's pretty smart.
@@jeff_forsythe Hi Jeff! Thank you for your compliment. I've been somewhat fascinated with Falun Gong, but have been too lazy to research it. Since you've reminded me of it, I'm going to do some reading today.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Brings to mind what Votaire said when he compared eastern religions (including Zen Buddhism and Confusianism) to western religions. Eastern religions have "no superstitions, no absurd legends, and none of those dogmas which insult reason and nature" which is the basis of western religions.
@robertdouglas8895 All religion is mumbo jumbo, especially Christianity. It's the 21st century and most people are still superstitious. It's mind boggling.
The claim against reincarnation is a fair enough call, but I don't think 'enlightenment' requires any kind of supernatural element. We already know that meditation produces measurable changes in the brain, so it's not that unreasonable to think that one could attain a drastically altered state of mind (i.e. enlightenment) via a highly developed meditative practice.
Love that he mentioned stories; I believe that I reached a certain Jhana or two while taking mushrooms. After, I realized and repeated to myself that “there is no story”
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Hello sir. You are a professor in Buddhism. Zen Buddhism. I am a freelance researcher in Bihar in India where the Buddha moved around. I realize the Buddhist world failed to study and recognize Indian Buddhism in India. Buddhism in eastern UP and Bihar in India is alive and kicking. Sir, I have some good news. Day before yesterday I videographed the Vimalakirti's temple which marks the spot where he preached when he was sick, I videographed Kotigama where the Buddha would stay, I videographed Amrapali's property. Sir, she was stinking rich. She was the owner of ten sq km of land which she got through her profession. I videographed the place where her musicians lived, where she lived, where the Buddha's foster mother Maha Prajapati Gautami lived. And to top it all I videographed the exact spot where she attained Parinirvana. Locals pray to her as a village deity and they maintain the place where she died. It is a lovely temple with no statues or pictures of God. There were five tiny stupas on the spot she attained Parinirvana. I will be releasing the videos in my channel in a few days.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I struggle with these ideas when I see all the suffering in the world caused by humans. I want to practice the philosophy but see how it can be exploited as a weakness. As an ex soldier I joined to put myself between aggressors until they found the ability to cease aggression but the levels of hate I saw demonstrated how people can become entrenched in kill or be killed siuations. I fear that humans will never evolve to work in harmony and simply revert to win/lose thinking up to the point we all lose.
We are here to suffer because it is the only way to remove black karma from our soul. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
The combination of the stock imagery with the stock music to try and illustrate these simple, humble teachings, I find clashes with their essence, and ultimately only serves to cheapen them.
Dear Big Think, My only comment would be that for all future videos, could the background the speaker talks in front of be something other than the typical very bright white? My suggestion would be a soft grey texture and a light source on the background behind the person, and the person also to have soft lighting made from two separate light sources. Just removing the harsh white background would help to bring the main focus of what the person is saying, without any distractions Thank you.
@Prof. Waldinger, do you think it is possible to become equivalent to a "zen master" naturally? I love your You Tube speech "Harvard professor’s 6-step guide to zen | Robert Waldinger" from Big Think. On all the items you discussed, I've came to the same conclusions a long time ago.
Buddah says, "The mistake is believing that anything matters. To believe that Life is suffering is not what I meant. Existence is suffering. Survival is suffering. But Life is pure bliss. To reach for peace is a bar short of joy as joy is a bar short from ecstasy. As you can not choose what happens outside of you, surely you can choose for yourself what happens inside of you. Choose to feel blessed you exist in the first place as there was a time when you did not, and soon a time when you won't. Choose to become that which you desire others to become. Also, "Choose wisely and be careful what you ask for. " 🙏
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. 1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses. 2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God. 3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One. 4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism]. 5. The Noah Family: Vedas: There Is Only One God, There Is Only One Source, There Is Only One Supply. Avesta Zoroastrian: There Is Only One Wise God, Whom Is Uncreated. Buddhist Cannon: There Is Only One God, Whom Created Good & Evil. 6. The Abraham Family: Torah [Old Testament]: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Gospel [New Testament]: I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
People, especially in the west, need mindfulness, loving kindness, and the dropping of ego now more than ever. Will it happen on a large scale? Of course not. But can you imagine how beautiful the world would be if all humans practiced what he’s talking about.
Too bad that gluttony is the rule of the day. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. Quran [Last Testament]:Salam, Shlama, Shlomo, Shalom, Peace. 1. Many Verses Within The Vedas, Avesta, Cannon, Psalms, Torah & Gospel, Still Have Authentic Verses. 2. The Corrupted Verses From These Scriptures Sent, Are All The Double Dutch Verses, Which Contradict The Nature Of God. 3. All These Scriptures Testify God Being One. 4. All Later Verses With A Trinity Were Added, Some With Multiple Marvel Like Gods [Hinduism]. 5. The Noah Family: Vedas: There Is Only One God, There Is Only One Source, There Is Only One Supply. Avesta Zoroastrian: There Is Only One Wise God, Whom Is Uncreated. Buddhist Cannon: There Is Only One God, Whom Created Good & Evil. 6. The Abraham Family: Torah [Old Testament]: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Gospel [New Testament]: I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.
Suffering is a blessing in disguise. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
To be fair, it never claimed to be able to. The Zen being presented here is not a political ideology, it's intended to work on the level of the individual.
I wish they didn’t say Harvard Professor. The quality of a Buddhist practitioner has nothing to do with being a professor at Harvard. Just tired of having only one message - rich, famous, esteemed people. How about the common person like me? There’s no mirror in media.
WHY WHY WHY is everyone obsessed with adding totally unnecessary Background Music!.. Please STOP! , or at least keep the Volume to an absolute minimum...
1)There's nothing fixed in the world. Yet we are on the earth but not of the earth. There is truth. Ask and you shall receive; not from the world but from God. 2)Suffering? My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Accepting pain is self-sacrifice, which is not the way to peace, but we can think it is. Accepting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross seems to be enough to make us innocent so we need not suffer. But forgiveness does that, not sacrifice. "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent." Forgiveness ends not just some of the unfairness, but all of it. 3) Forgiving the past lets us live in the moment without fear of the future. 4)Through forgiveness, we see each other created as spirit, not as bodies seemingly doing things that affect us. 5)As we observe and correct the errors of our own thinking that will bring us to peace, we can help others do the same. 6)"Thy will, not my will" opens us to the mind of God working through us.
So, what language, exactly, is the "Buddhist" language? Is the term "samsara" not derived from Sanskrit, or, any of the predecessors of Hindi? That's the same logic as saying "Allah" is the name of the god in the "Muslim" language instead of it being the word for "god" in Arabic. If that kind of stereotyping is casual for you, I'm good on the rest.
Can we take Harvard professors seriously anymore? If the university president can rise to such a position with little credible scholarly work (of their own), why should we have faith in any of these other 'experts'?
I don't see the logic of undermining the credibility of everyone's work, based solely on the actions of one person. If a topic is of sufficient interest to you, then you can look into it yourself. Using logic and reason you should be able to assess the information you come across. Nobody is an absolute authority and a lot of academia will be influenced by individual and professional bias, as it is with everything. Even hard science has its own philosophical underpinnings. So I think you can and should take professors seriously, but as I said, if you are intrigued by something they say, then continue to educate yourself on the matter.
With all due respect highly intellectual professor, you are telling us about theoretical and mostly western understanding about Buddhism, and not so much about Zen, may be a bit with the last point. There is no point in understanding zen, you eat, you sit and you shit - that's it, and you die. Zen is one's face before one's parents were born. Zen makes no sense, that's why it is zen. And they say, bird shit to Buddha 🙇.
If you believe that Zen sees time as liner and ever progressing then this is not a form Buddhism. Also, imparting liberal humanistic views is also false as it goes against natural law.
They are all the same anyway. They present things differently and use different myths to explain things or motivate people. Meditations practices/habits may change too, but they have the same goals and probably the same effects overall. Tibetan and Zen Buddhists like to focus on awareness by being aware that they are aware, while in the Theravada tradition they focus on mastering concentration by deeply focusing on one object ("one-pointedness"). None are inherently better, it really depends on how you personally feel about it (although using different meditation methods is good, it adds some variety and trains your brain differently).
Some of this sounds like what a domestic violence person would say when everyone is telling them to get out she might be saying maybe he just had a bad day maybe he had a hard upbringing I wish I compassion to him I think a lot of the stuff is dangerous and let’s evil persist in the world
This isn’t meant to be an effort to excuse bad behavior, but to understand it. Like diagnosing an illness. It is too easy to simply say someone is “evil” and call it a day. Zen isn’t into shortcuts.
Judging an entire university by its President or even many of its students and faculty. Judge people individually. Just warn your own children about Harvard.
I’m Buddhists for my entire life because of the cultural context in my country but I’d never paid attention to the concepts or the core of religious itself. Last year I got the biggest heartbreak which made me hit the rock bottom in my life. believe it or not I could get through that and have become a better person because of starting to understanding these concepts. I’ve practice mediations a lot and it is now one part of my daily routine. Now I’m feeling very very happy with my present moment life and feeling thankful for everything that happened in the past which shaped me to who I am today. 🎉
Appreciate your username 😁 i feel like i never really understood what "cringe" means when people usually use the term.. the closest ive felt cringe is when people act like hypocrites.. that for me is "cringey". But when other people say something is cringe, it is usually related to aesthetic or personal quirks - which i do think is normal. If you call cringe on someone on the basis of them being and acting "different", yknow being different goes both ways 😅
Suffering brings wisdom, every dark cloud has a silver lining. Zen Buddhism explains very few of life's mysteries while the Buddhist school Falun Gong explains them all.
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Regarding suffering - I heard a saying that absolutely changed the way I deal with difficulty. "Struggle is inevitable. Suffering is a choice." Which essentially comes down to your mindset. Change the problems you CAN change. And change your thinking around the problems you CAN'T change.
I'm a Christian, or at least this is the philosophy I know best, but it's difficult to accept suffering if you have no logical explanation to it. Endorsing change and fragility as something essential for the beauty of life is an exceptional idea. Without struggle or suffering nothing would ever grow.
Suffering is not a choice, suffering is healing, a blessing in disguise. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I didnt realize anyone had responded to this. But I'll give my favorite 2 real examples of suffering as a choice in the real world. And suffering (difficulty) that builds resilience. I think my point will be much clearer afterward. Regarding resilience, I learned once about the way that trees grow that a tree that stands alone over time develops much denser wood. Because it builds resilience against the wind and weather. And those trees will tend to grow strong for a long time and rarely fall. But if a tree grows inside of a group of trees, and then the outer ones that sheltered it from the wind are taken down, the sheltered tree very often breaks in the next big storm because it never developed the toughness to stand against the wind of a storm. This is my favorite analogy for difficulty in life building resilience. However. That leads into my other example about the role that "choice" makes. Scientists did a lab study where they put a mouse that loves to run on a wheel and let it go to town on it while monitoring it. The mouse after all of its running had biomarkers that indicated reduced stress, reduced inflammation, increased immune function, and other positive health benefits. Running is healthy. Duh. But then they put a mouse that was not interested in running on the SAME wheel with the mouse that runs and that mouse would HAVE to run to not be flung around. So the sedentary mouse ran because it had to. It's biomarkers indicated increased stress, increased inflammation, reduced immune function. Almost ENTIRELY opposite measurements. It was the desire. One mouse GETS to run. The other HAS to. The difficulty of running was the same for both. But the one that did not choose to run suffered. And it's suffering was PHYSICALLY measureable. It was not specifically the running that made the health difference. It was the mindset. They have done similar studies with humans who engage in ice baths and polar plunges. Nearly ALL of the health benefits come from EMBRACING the challenge and understanding the positive outcome for overcoming the challenge. But people who are subjected to it against their will or desire get almost entirely opposite outcomes. The struggle will always be there. Embrace it as a chance to grow, and you WILL grow. Resist it, and you will only suffer. That is the meaning of "suffering".
Why is this white dude teaching us zen with the classic reductionist western take - “eastern religion meets western …”. This is eastern science! Buddhism and Hinduism are barely religions - that’s a western perception of them, used maliciously by colonizers
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
"Zen is a way of life, a state of being, that is not possible to embrace in any concept whatsoever, so that any concepts, any ideas, any words that I shall put across to you this evening will have as their object, showing you the limitations of words and of thinking." ~ Alan Watts
@@olaikintel All schools of Buddhism are truthful. Zen is elementary school and Falun Dafa is PHD. Do not be attached to Zen, attachment is not part of Buddhism, sorry. To attain enlightenment by practicing Zen might take twenty lifetimes and with Falun Gong, this lifetime.
@@jeff_forsythe The whole point of zen is that its not a philosophy or religion. As soon as you think you are zen, zen is no longer. Zen is at the core of every religion, not just buddhism. Its only buddhist as it is the only place it could be. "You cant rationalise something that was never there" And in zen, sutras and santras are view as nothing but mere waste paper that only purpouse is to wipe dirt off the intellect.
I recently read “Buddhish” by C Pierce Salguaro and it is a wonderful introduction to the history and varieties of Buddhist practice as well as the underlying values of each sect
Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
Childlike, not childish. Zen Buddhism is based upon a misunderstanding of Buddha's teachings by its patriarch Bodhidharma. He thought that Buddha said that no teaching is worthwhile while Buddha meant that no teaching is definitive. Falun Dafa explains life's mysteries in great detail.
I'm such angry person and you convinced me with this video that being kind to people you hate is an actual lifehack to break free from the suffering of hate. Thank you, I hope this idea will stay with me from now on
Jesus could have said, do not hate your neighbor instead of love thyself. When someone hates, who feels the hate, the hated or the hater, the hater. Likewise if you like someone, you feel the like.....................Falun Dafa
