Zen

for fostering conversations about implementing a permanent change that has proven to work. Often this technique is used for brainstorming, but I think it can be applied for engaging the process owners to develop and enhance their own process changes. Zen teaches that true change comes from self-reflection and not imposed doctrine. Using the DeBono method to foster change sometimes involves restricting the group to only thinking in specific ways by giving ideas and analysis in the “mood” of the…

have religious associations -- the Foguang Temple and Southern Zen Temple at Mount Wuyi, or the Daoist Deity Hall in Shanxi. They advanced the timber-frame engineering to a wholely new level by imposing modular construction and order to realize large-size, large-volume structures. It was believed that the Lingde Hall of Daming Palace was once a space with 17 times 11 bays with an area of over 5000 square meters, and the Southern Zen Temple, although a lot smaller, occupies an area of 3078…

Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure and Takuan Soho’s The Unfettered Mind both reflect on the visions of warrior values based on Buddhist connections of the ways of the samurai. However, the Hagakure and The Unfettered Mind mention different Buddhist connections that are important to the samurai. For example, Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure discusses the meaning of death of the samurai and the importance of samurai masters, while Takuan Soho’s The Unfettered Mind discusses the importance of the…

Before I take a meditation class, I haven’t thought about the meditation. Now, I know it changed me many things, so I wanted to tell my family about it. My mother have a insomnia. She sleep about 3~4 hours at night and about one hours in the afternoon. She used said she sleep well but she always walk around in house all night. By Chinese zodiac sign, she is the year of the dag. That’s why she cannot sleep and take care of a house. I am the year of the mouse, so I like to get out and walk…

For my musical ethnography, I was originally going to attend a showing of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, but it ended up being sold out last minute. At that point, I began to worry because that was the only event I had planned to attend. As my worry was starting to progress, I remembered, and also took a quick glance at the types of events we could attend and saw that it said we could attend a religious service. I quickly looked up services in my area for the next day and came across a website…

My cultural field experience was attending a Buddhist Meditation meeting. This was out of my typical culture for two reasons; first, I am Christian, not Buddhist, and two, I have not ever meditated or even witnessed someone meditating to my knowledge. I will admit that I generally look on meditation as a waste of time that can be used to complete something constructive. I was a bit nervous about attending as it was an experience I was completely unfamiliar with and I had no idea of what to…

Silence is an important aspect of the Hindu tradition. Silence is a preparation, a way of knowing oneself, and also of knowing the world, as is revealed in the tapashyaa(s) (meditation) of the muni(s) (sages). In fact, the word ‘muni’ has its origin in the Sanskrit word ‘mauna’, meaning silence, the maintenance of which is believed to inculcate power and knowledge, as opposed to speech that saps all energy. Silence, as a spiritual entity, is common both in the Buddhist philosophy and in the…

The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on the Working Memory in College Students Previous research studies have exhibited evidence towards the relationship between meditation and improved academic scores (Foris, 2005). With meditation becoming a widely popular topic, especially for its benefits in the reduction of stress and anxiety, it is questioned whether the use of proper mindfulness meditation has positive effects on the working memory and if so, do those effects differentiate between males…

Contexts and Dialogue: Yogacara Buddhism and Modern Psychology on the Subliminal Mind by Tao Jiang dives into a comparative analysis between concepts related to Yogacara Buddhism and modern psychology. The book utilizes the Buddhist idea of Alayavijnana and the notion of unconscious as described by modern psychologists as the foundation for the dialogue within its pages. Jiang makes note that due to a weak analysis of Alayavijnan, a problematic nature stems out from performing comparative…

I went to a Buddhist temple for my field activity. I got through the meditation ceremony and I found it really calming relaxing. It emphasize just letting go and being one with yourself. There main message was about world peace and since I’m not in a position to change that I focused on how the actual service itself was conducted. There weren't any interaction between the listeners and the monk general. The sprayer was also prerecorded and play through speakers with the monk general just gave…