Yogacara provides us with a useful conceptual framework for understanding the mind that can transform our thoughts and emotions, says Guo Gu. He offers a practical four-step process for integrating the Yogacara teachings in your practice. Buddhist practitioners are all too familiar with the ups and downs of meditative experience, but most have no idea why certain experiences [...]
About Guo Gu
Compassion Has No Enemy
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, Chan Buddhist teacher Guo Gu looked at how to understand violence through the lens of the three poisons. My teacher, the late Master Sheng Yen, once said something very simple, but which requires a lifetime of practice to actualize. I share it with you in this difficult time: “Wisdom does not give rise to vexations; compassion [...]
You Are Already Enlightened
Guo Gu, a longtime student of the late Master Sheng Yen, presents an experiential look at the Chan practice of silent illumination. Silent illumination is a Buddhist practice that can be traced back not only to Huineng (638–713), the sixth patriarch of Chan, and other Chinese masters but also to the early teachings of the Buddha. In the Chan tradition, silent illumination is [...]
Exposing, Embracing, Responding & Letting Go
In the Chan Buddhist practice of mindfulness, Guo Gu explains, four steps help us realize the three marks of existence and the four noble truths. The Pali word sati, which in modern times is rendered as “mindfulness,” actually means “recollection” or “bearing in mind.” What do you recollect? What do you bear in mind? You recollect the true nature of phenomena, which can be [...]
