Zen Buddhism - The Direct Method

Comment if you do acid and listen to Alan watts

[TheNotCoolOne]

Man. My therapist pitched this as grounding. Helpful for panic attacks, sepressive episodes, or really any emotional crisis

[future_beat]

“A lot of the teachers don’t take themselves too seriously, ” is so true about Zen masters. Alan Watts literally used to call himself a “philosophical entertainer.”

[ColonelBolognaJr]

Dude, I never comment on anything, but this brought me back to the best college course I ever took, "rhetoric of zen, " it was basically just a zen class disguised as a rhetoric course (there was reading and whatnot involved, but we mostly did meditation and group discussion, even called the class our "sangha" or community).

My favorite thing I learned from zen is an analogy for the experience of emotions; it's one I've told to everyone who would listen: Emotions are like a wave, they rise and rise, and can be completely overwhelming when they crash over you, but they will wash away like any other wave. If you don't hold onto it, and don't feed it, any emotion (this is usually about negative feelings, but applies just as much to positive ones) will dissipate in as little as one minute. It's a teaching that has helped me be less angry, less annoyed, less dismissive of things that bore me. Thanks for talking about this stuff, I do wish more folks would give zen a shot, or at least pick up a little something from it.

Anyway, don't forget: when hungry, eat; when tired, sleep.

[AnimeUproar]

The reason why Zen emphasizes meditation so much is precisely because Enlightenment must be experienced directly. Philosophizing about it and trying to define it is not only pointless, but it actually makes things worse because your are creating more concepts instead of liberating yourself from concepts.

As for the fart, my interpretation is that a highly revered Zen Master farting would instantly shatter the concepts that the Monk has subconsciously built up in his head about the Master, including ideas of reverence, formality, superiority, and authority. This same realization is then simply extended to Buddhism as a whole and to the entire universe.

[jacobwages]

This is the guy who brought us 7 levels of high. What a beautiful timeline.

[alicearial]

Hello, I am a Zen Monk and I wanted to say I greatly appreciate your Buddhism videos, they help teach and inform the world to this wonderful tradition. Palms together, thank you.

[zoso]

As a big meditator, I think I can answer your question on "process" vs an "object". So the idea with an object is it is a thing that exists - think of a cup. It exists, it's basically static and unchanging. A process on the other hand is a fluid thing over time, and a process arises, abides, and then passes away. The trick with Buddhism is to realize everything you experience is really a process (like sure you can hold a cup, but the sensations of holding it, looking at it, etc change over time).

[Skletor]

Im going through a break up at the moment of a relationship of 5 years and the when you said “ nothing is permanent and it’s when we trick ourselves that we can hold on to something forever we create the conditions for suffering” it really hit deep, humor aside this video really helped out a lot I needed

[Yoshemo]

Consciousness is multiple processes working together to create your experience. The reason those processes don't count as the self is because there is no one thing you can stop and point to and say "this is me." You experience time as flowing because you are a process.

It works the same way a song does. When it's playing, you can experience it, but you can't point to any one note or instrument or lyric and say "this is the song."

[mistirion]

That "holding on with your mind" and "not letting go" explained with the short example at the beginning is so incredibly understandable, I can't even express it in words. It took people years to truly understand the most basic things like this and you explained it perfectly in about 30s.
You are incredibly capable of teaching even though you probably think of yourself as "just" a content creator. (I might be wrong though)

Anyways, thanks for finding ways to explain the most in itself basic but difficult stuff in the easiest way possible

[haydenerickson]

I can't remember the last time a channel just burst onto the scene and got so popular like this one. Fully deserved because these videos are great!

[SagaOfStoics]

Amazing how Zen and Stoicism, from different parts of the world, converge on the path to inner peace and wisdom. Both emphasize living in the present, self-mastery, and practicality in their own unique ways. Truly, timeless wisdom knows no boundaries.

[Heather_in_Kansas]

As a Buddhist of 30 years, the first riddle was actually in a child's book on Buddhism that I bought my kid when he was 5! So cool to hear it again. The quote on "Where you go is will you be" is something my dad told me all the time as a kid. I never understood it until I was 30/the early '00s. I was upset and went running but got lost. I had a moment of enlightenment when I realized that I was still upset-still "there". I understood the quote as "You can't run away from your problems", lol, I literally tried!😂 Good video! Give the Tao te Ching a look!!✌🎋~Khong Hao

[LiquidIce]

This video was just pure joy for me. Especially when you talked about acid and Alan Watts - I was like, holy shit you went through the same path haha. I was always wondering why I like your videos so much! Keep it up <3

[themrmtnman]

I struggle daily with mental health and this video helps me severely. Thank you dude. You deserve more subs.

[johnhogan]

I’m a practicing zen Buddhist. I’ve also got a dog named nanner dog that was recently diagnosed with cancer. Ever since I got scared by a nanner cancer scare, I’ve been meditating a lot more than usual to stop from being so sad. Before I start, I tell myself that the self is just a thought, and my body is just an arrangement of things. Then I focus on the colors I see behind my closed eyes and I think about how they’re just a thought. I’ll never be ready to lose this dog.

[christophcooneyoff]

One really wonderful description of Enlightenment that I read in Sapiens by Yuval Noah-Harari, was that it was an intense form of acceptance. Our natural inclination is to be happy, and wish for this happiness to continue. Likewise, when we're sad, we want that sadness to be over. These wants are the base of a painful cycle, of fleeting happiness and prolonged pain. Instead, you learn to disconnect and stop *wanting*. I found that really profound.

[MindfulExplorations-opbg]

Dude I can't tell you how many videos I've watched on Buddhism and you nailed it, it was so easy to follow all the way through. Thank you so much man, stay blessed.

[Dubmentia]

Your channel is growing so fast and I'm so happy to see it. Such quality content at such a nice pace. Here's to 1M, cheers

[benjaminwinter]

Mostly True is an excellent project but BY FAR the best content this man has put together has to be his content on Buddhism. He has a way of effectively communicating the ideas behind a grounding philosophy to a young western audience that is overconcerned with progress, material possessions, happiness, and dopamine hits. Right on man, keep up the good work. :-)