I'm an ENFP, big suprise...

I've uploaded my Myers-Briggs results here mostly for my own edification.

My_Myers-Briggs_Results.pdf Download this file

A View from the Driver’s Seat

My wife recently posted this, and it was grand.

 

I do feel like I’m driving the “get healthy and trim" bandwagon these days.

 

However, it feels more like a big body 1950s era convertible. It wasn’t long ago I had a crisis of faith, if you will.

 

My weight stayed pretty stable around 370 most of the Summer. This was a major bummer. That wasn’t intended to rhyme, but it did, look at that!

Now it's going down again. I'm happy about this but I'm no longer doubtful about my success in any way. I've turned a corner.

The fat me is in the rearview mirror. The more he recedes the more I can see the road in front of me instead of the fog of history and failures of the past that had clung to me. 

Now, I know that NOTHING has changed, and everything has. 

I now see he benefit of going "all the way."

I'm not looking forward to the next ten pounds anymore (though I am more on that in a bit) I'm looking to the healthy me at the completion of this phase of my life.

I will be a normal BMI. I have no doubt of that. Not only that but one day, and one day soon, I will be a marvel of good health. I really already am, other than my blood pressure. Even that I'm not terribly worried about as it will most likely go down when my dairy intake disappears. Why am I confident of this?  

Watch Forks Over Knives, then come back...I'll wait.

Done? Okay, good. Now that we are on the same page: My blood pressure will decrease on it's own once my dairy intake can be discontinued.

I look forward to good, no, Outstanding health, in years to come. I will not settle for less than outstanding health. After all, I know how to gt there and I you can join there as well. 

As for the next ten pounds: When I hit 100 pounds lost, I'm getting a Nook Touch. I've waffled on an eReader for years. I even had a Kindle for a short, turbulent period but it, like so many things from that time in my life, was nothing more than an illusion. The Nook is the best eInk has to offer. Yes, it's extravagant, but my wife suggested it and my therapist approves.

So, I'm driving down Route 66 to Healthytown. 

Wanna come? There's plenty of room. It seats about 20 so come along and bring your jukebox money.

Me less 90 pounds,

~Andy

*J. Andy Lambert*

Dad and Husband.

Unitarian Universalist Zen Buddhist.

Blogger: Zen Chalice & The Transforming Man

Lax Vegan.

Sculpter.

Home Brewer

Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic!

Add me to your circles on Google+ Andy Lambert

Guest Post: TMcG from Full Contact Enlightenment takes on Online Teaching

This is part of the Precious Metal Blog Swap for which I have yet to send off my entry to (whoops) It'll be in tonight, I swear.

So here's Tanya:

There has been quite a bit of discussion as to whether distance teaching or online practices dilute the face-to-face transmission of the teachings and I'll admit to being of two minds in my opinion on this. 

Pro mind:
Growing up, I lived in a small town where the teachings weren't readily available and any drop of dharma that I could get my hands on was like Kool-Aid to a thirsty third grader. I devoured anything I could find and some of it was either way too advanced or came out of a more new-agey approach to meditation, usage of power crystals and other such approaches to Buddhism that were more out of selling me products than providing a path to self-discovery, kindness and compassion. Had I been able to access a teacher online, I may have had a way to connect with teachers and an online sangha and develop a sense of community with others who could help share their experiences of having teachers, sanghas and centres to assist them. 

Online teachings give many access to a larger variety of teachers and teachings and serve to help educate other dharma centres in how they operate, their protocols around community activities such as funeral services, weddings and generally all matters of life and death and everything in between. I subscribe to many many newsletters from other traditions as a means to obtain ideas for my home centre and sangha - something that wouldn't be possible if we were to only rely on paper subscriptions to newsletters. 

Sharing of content is another bonus to online teachings as it's much easier to spread a video, blog post or podcast than it is to photocopy, mail or ship off a DVD. The dharma is able to flourish via technology now more than ever and spreads faster than a sneeze out of the master's nose. 

In addition to this, for many it is financially impossible to be able to travel to follow one's teacher. Online teachings and communities help many maintain closeness to the teachings without the necessity of taking out a bank loan to benefit from what is now available online. 

Con mind: 
I don't think the online experience is the same as direct, face to face teachings that you have to make the effort to get out to the dharma centre for in a blinding snowstorm, to sit for 4 hours in a stinky meditation hall and to not be able to press pause when you don't catch what the teacher is saying. I hear you saying - wait, what is the con to being all cozy at home, tucked under a blanket and listening to a You Tube video of your benevolent guru clearly via your highspeed internet connection on your crisp Macbook Pro? The drawback to this is that the dharma becomes instant and can easily be taken for granted. The 'always on' culture that we can be swayed by does little to encourage us to emerge from our cocoon and make the effort to participate in our learning experience. Add to this the very experience of traveling in that snowstorm, sitting in the stinky meditation hall and straining to hear a garbling teacher and the ability to work with each of these annoyances. When all one experiences is the comfort of home, it's hard to fully be engaged on the Buddhist path that speaks so much to traveling beyond suffering. 

Beyond this, the experience of being with a teacher in 'meat space' allows you to sense the full nuances of being in a spiritual relationship - of being a part of this global Buddhist sangha. As much as I like video chatting with my family, it's no replacement for time spent in their company. 

We can use technology as a crutch and get further obscured by the digital raft that's supposed to carry us to the other side, but is instead making us feel bogged down by the incessant flood of information coming at us on a daily basis. Personally, I have a bulging RSS reader full of new and saved articles from Buddhabloggers and Buddhist magazines all begging for my attention. I have a zillion podcasts waiting to be listened to as well as hours upon hours of  You Tube videos marked to watch from a long list of pixellated Rinpoches, Tulkus, Lamas, teachers and students. It will take several lifetimes just to make it through all of these and there comes a time when letting go is the most sane option rather than to even attempt to keep up with it all. 

Now more than ever, we are encountering the Buddha, Dharma and sangha in different forms but regardless of whether we are engaged in face to face, real time encounters or timeshifting our studies and practice into the great digital beyond, I personally think it's important to remember our intention, our motivation and not to lose site of the essence of the teachings and not to get too hung up or attached in whatever form the messenger appears in. 

Logging off. 
Tanya from Full Contact Enlightnement

You can find Tanya's blog here

Gassho.

~Andy

zzzZazenzzz

The difference is amazing. It really is.

On Tuesday, I had a weird dream/nightmare. I woke up and was so terrified & distraught that I couldn't force myself to rollover and get out of bed. As a result, my sitting didn't happen. My day was okay, I guess but there was something unsettled about it.

This morning, I awoke and felt refreshed rolled over and got out of bed and I felt pretty good.

Zazen was especially restless. I stood up and was quite grumpy about my "bad" session.  

Today hasn't been especially productive, so far In fact It's been quite the opposite.  I'm not stressed about it, though. 

I'm not looking to gain benefits from my sitting Practice while I'm doing it. When I sit, I just sit.

I don't count my breath. I don't do koan work (as I have no idea what that is, honestly). Though I am reading the Boundless Way edited Book of Mu, so maybe I'll get an idea?

I just sit and stare at a spot on my wall. Sometimes my mind is like a hurricane, all tempest and rolling thunder. Sometimes it's quieter like a summer storm. I've never hit still waters for more than a second or two before the tide turns, but it does happen now and again.

Out here, right now, am I still doing zazen?? 

Maybe I am.

My wife noted that I was complaining a bit much about something that our son did, by accident, after I was done sitting this morning.

Zazen let me shut my mouth.

I think that's the thing that happens most often is being able to just shut up. 

No one else may notice it, but I do.

Gassho.

Of My liberal religion

First me let me start off by defining a word. A word that has a nasty connotation here in Texas.

Liberal:

favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs (according to dictionary.com)

synonyms include:

—Synonyms

1.  progressive  broad-minded, unprejudiced.  beneficent,charitable, openhanded, munificent, unstinting, lavish

—Antonyms 

1.  reactionary. 8.  intolerant. 9, 10.  niggardly

Hmmm....seems that liberal might have been unfairly maligned, huh?   

As a Buddhist, I feel like we've been trying to re-invent the wheel. There is a place for shikentaza and koan practice and sesshin, certainly?

But is there any reason that that same place can't host pot-lucks and classes on druidic shamanism?

I really don't see why not.

Maybe it's because I'm attached to the forms of Christianity but the manners and the whole attitude of the Zen Center system as it has come to be in these United States is entirely too solemn and almost a farce of itself. I respect anyone who can take themselves that seriously. I admire anyone who can approach their practice with such single-minded focus. I can't. I need more.

I need a welcoming smile and a friendly conversation. I need someone to show me around and answer questions and not two Wednesdays from now when the next class. Why not now? 

So I've found myself attending and now joining a Unitarian Universalist Church. My family likes it. It's welcoming to families. My wife likes it, it's familiar and doesn't require a Japanese/Chinese/Pali glossary. 

So have we given up Buddhism? Nope. It's our worldview. I haven't given up Zen practice, either. I'm not interested in the strict monastic type practice that is the rule at most Soto zen centers. I'll do Rohatsu sesshins and half days , if they'll have me, as I do feel like I might eventually leave home if Mountains and Rivers or Boundless Way or one of the other truly American Zen orders will have me as a student then teacher from faraway Texas.

I might even try and get a Dokusan in here and there with the teacher there. She is a good teacher and they have a good Center, I just don't think that type of practice is for me. I'll sit and I'll listen and I'll read.

My sangha however will be the sangha of the world in the microcosm of my Church family. 

I'm a UU Zen Buddhist. I'm not the first and I won't be the last but I do feel like I fit into the puzzle, here.

Gassho.

The long term...

In Buddhism and Zen, in particular, we're trained to live in the moment. To make each and every moment the best it can be as it's all you've got.

However, it would be an extreme view and not of the Middle Way to completely disregard planning for the future.

I've been confused most of my life. I've always wanted to help people but I've never been sure how best to do that. 

I've waffled between three basic career options for years:

1. Educator

2. Cleric

3. Attorney

I have never worked as any of these on a career path. I have substitute taught and I'm a NALA certified paralegal. 

As for the the Cleric...well I've finally found a religious path that appeals to me and feels right. Unitarian Universalism always sounded like where I belong and now it feels like we've finally come home.

So at 31, I'm college educated, but my Interdisciplinary Studies Liberal Arts degree isn't worth the price I paid for it. I make less that $15 an hour at a job that is stressful and unfulfilling. I don't even consider my job as any sort of career. It's just a job. A low-paying one at that. I'm one of the "under-employed." Did I mention that I have an alternative certification under the W. Bush-era "No Child Left Behind." As it turns out, there was no shortage of high school social studies teachers.

I pursued the attorney thing a bit I went to night school to get a paralegal certification as a stepping stone to a career as a paralegal. What they don't tell you is that all paralegals start out as $9 an hour file clerks or receptionists and work their way up to paralegal, regardless of education. I can't afford a cut in pay, so, no. In order to go to law school that would put us another 40-50K (conservatively) in debt. I don't have the temperament for personal injury, criminal defense, or family law, either. So that leaves me to what?? Legal aid? Procedural law? Environmental Law? None of these is very lucrative and that means my wife would shoulder even more of my debt that she already has. 

I would love to teach. I like anything to do with knowledge. I love to write (obviously). I really enjoy pedagogy. There's really nothing wrong with teaching. However, I would need to go back and get a standard high school certification, or a masters and possibly a PhD to teach at the college level. While neither of these would be particularly arduous, Is it worth it financially? I mean you can't put a price on doing what you love, but I don't know if I'm ready to put us another 20-30K in debt for PhD and then try to find a local job. My wife will be a ChemE in two years (hopefully). A ChemE's best job market in the US (possibly the world) is right here in Houston, TX. 

So...we come to the least explored..Cleric. My earliest career suggestion came from my much beloved Senior minister growing up. He was certain I destined for ministry. I have the skill set for it. I'm a good speaker. I can write. I'm out-going and friendly and I love scholarly writing and critical analysis of literature. 

Unfortunately, God never spoke tome and he still doesn't. If he's out there, we aren't confidants. Moreover, I've come to believe that He's irrelevant to our own spiritual growth and development. God may or may not be there to to help out in some far distant magical/mystical way that we don't understand (not likely) but we have to do all the driving, regardless. 

That's why Buddhism speaks to me and why I chose it as a framework for my Spiritual Path. Unfortunately, the organizational forms that Buddhism has taken the west are not conducive to raising a child/family life and INTEGRATION into your life. I understand that Zen/Buddhism is a path of renunciation, but in the modern sense I don't think this is true. The Middle Way means, tome, fully integrating Practice in your lief and that means Life as it is, not going to live on a mountaintop or even doing a sesshin every month. An occasional retreat or Sesshin is fine but 2-3 a year?? Comeon who has the vacation time for that? Unless you're a Cleric then it's part of your job to be the best _________ you can be.

So I'm a Buddhist. I'm still not sure where I want to go with that. Soto Zen, organizationally, is austere and adult oriented. It's not a place for kids. It could be, but it would take offering other programs and most Soto centers are too focused on the Path and the practices prescribed by Sotoshu to walk the path to offer those. HZC is trying but once a month doesn't cut it.

Unitarian Universalism is the first religion I have encountered that resonates with me whole-heartedly (like Zen) and also appeals to my needs as father. Also, I'm really not a quiet introspective person and Zen Practice tends to infuse everything else that happens at the Zen Center with a sense of solemnity that seems almost fake. I'll never quit zazen or give up my Buddhist understanding in how the Universe works and the UU doesn't ask me to.

So this has become a TLDR post and I'm sorry, Shane.

My point is that every option available to me seems like another mountain to climb and right now I'm already climbing the mountain to good health....

One could visualize life as a mountain to climb with no top.

Ever onward and upward! Excelsior!

Sorry I channeled Stan Lee for a minute there.

This post was more about my lief than Buddhism but it informs everything I do and my decision making is based on Buddhist principles and ideals. 

Have advice?? Leave a Comment.

Gassho.

Opening the Hand of Thought

While I omitted it from the title, this is a book review.

WAIT!!

Don't leave!

I know these things can be boring. I know no one likes to read them.

As I paid for this book, there's no real obligation for me even to do a book review, right??

Never-the-less this book deserves better than I can give it.

James Ishmael Ford said of it: If you read one book on Zen this year, this should be that book.

Keep in mind that the good Reverend Ford has his own books to promote.

It's hard to encapsulate Uchiyama Roshi's book. It's a manual for Zen practice.

It explains his rather unique viewpoint without straying from Dogenist party line, as it were. I like his description of the Zen path as a balance between Vow and Repentance.

Uchiyama believed in Zazen being the core of Practice. It's the most important thing you can do. This is straight up Dogen Zenji. The thing is I'm told that most of Soto Shu even today, thirty years later doesn't care too much about Zazen. At least in Japan. Here in the USA it's all about the sitting.

I think if Uchiyama Roshi were alive today he would like to see how much emphasis is put on Zazen in the West.

In short, read this book if:

You're interested in Zen.

You're not interested in Zen.

You like simple explanations for hard to grasp concepts.

You're into tautophrases. (I wrote a whole post about this)

Seriously, check it out. Then read Realizing Genjokoan. 

Go on...

But before you do I just want to say how much I like Wisdom Publications for bringing this and tons of other stuff back into print. Thanks, guys!

Gassho.

Letting go: success

When we are young we have a conception of what we think our life will be like when we are an adult.

This idea is based on what we want out of life and also what we have been taught regarding success. My parents are not and never have been wealthy. By strict income they ate barely middle class. Through smart management of finances, they have often lived a life style that makes others think they are well heeled.

However, success has never been measured by money in my family. My parents, even today, tell me how proud they are of me. So its definitely not money based. Instead its based on strong moral fiber. Compared to many in my generation I'm a sisal rope.

That being said, I'm not financially stable. I have huge debt. My liberal arts degree is relatively worthless and every post-baccalaureate attempt at continuing education I have made has been an unmitigated disaster. I have a job, not a career, and I have very recourse as to finding or choosing one.

This all sounds pretty dire, but this is just background. This is is nothing more than scenery. My life, isn't these things. My life isn't these noisy rattlings of my ego. What is my life then? I'm not sure, really.

I guess practice is my life. My life is practice, certainly. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it doesn't. Either way it just is. Worrying about what should be is of no benefit to me our anyone else. Living each and every moment as best I can is all can do.

Gassho.

Gold Star

So I finally took the plunge. 

I went to Dokusan. I asked my teacher to be my teacher. 

It turns out Karen Maezen Miller was right (big surprise). In my first one much insight was given. 

My teacher is great.

One of the things we talked about was joy and pride.

I tend to be very hard on myself and self-critical.

She pointed out how it's not really following the Middle Way to be so self-critical. 

Too much shame is something to be avoided. 

The antidote is Pride. 

Pride is a much maligned concept in the Western world. However, Buddhism teaches that Pride is something we should embrace, in moderation. We should be properly proud of our accomplishments.

My teacher told me that I should give myself a gold star whenever I have made a good choice (like going to Dokusan, finally).

So I intend to think of that when I have made a good choice. It might help to balance out my automatic negativity, a bit.

All in all, it was nothing like I expected and much better than I had hoped.

Gassho.

Master Miao Tsan Returning to Houston

JUTM March Public Events Flier.pdf Download this file

The Ven. Miao Tsan, Abbott of Vairocana Zen Monastery, in Garden Grove CA, and Author of Just Use This Mind, published by Houston-based Bright Sky Press will be returing to the Byaou City for Dharma talks and guided meditations.

I was at his dharmatalk last year at Rice and he was very good. Straight up Zen perspective. Regional variations aside Dogen really did bring C'han to Japan and thus we have what became Soto Zen.

Gassho.

Reflections on Impermanence

Self-identifying as a Zen Buddhists means I'm often asked about Japan.

I long have had a love-hate relationship with the island nation as I really don't care for Japanese pop culture, but I admire and respect it's deep cultural roots and it's vertical integration with Buddhism.

I find most commonality with Zen but it is, by far, not  the most populous sect in Japan. That would fall to Shin or possibly the combined Nicheren schools.

I digress.

Some have said this tragedy is sad. 

I completely agree.

Any loss of life is sad. Any suffering is sad. 

There are millions of senseless deaths every year.

What the earthquake and tsunami do is underscore the impermanence that people like to forget or ignore.

It's strange in a country so tied to Buddhist thought and Practice that there are temples that have stood for 1000 years.

I'm not saying the Japanese aren't seeing this perspective. I'm pretty sure if all the temples around the country were leveled they would rebuild them and they will do the same with the roads and villages and lives that have been leveled by the multiple devastating events.

Send your prayers, Metta meditations, renewal rituals or simply good vibrations to the Japanese.

If you can, donate to the international Red Cross.

Japan will be okay, in time, all things are impermanent, even tragedy and heartache.

Cross-posted @ Houston Belief.

In Gassho.

Is Zen Fraught with Tautologies?

In my book class the other night one of the instructors mentioned that Uchiyama Roshi uses a lot of tautologies.

I thought I knew what that was.  It turns out I was wrong. It think it's possible that I'm splitting hairs here but it seems like phrases like "It is what it is," are not tautologies.

Here's the definition: a statement in which you repeat a word, idea, etc., in a way that is not necessary [count] ▪ “A beginner who has just started” is a tautology.

So free gifts or learning learners or idiotic idiots are all tautologies.

However, phrases are generally not considered tautologies (despite the example from the lovely MEriam Webster's) and, moreover, in further research (read wikipedia), I discovered that a tautology is specifically a rhetorical device where-in the repetition is needless.

Another point for Zen masters don't use tautologies. 

So what are these useful summaries. I know I shouldn't be hung up on naming them. I'm not really I just find language and it's uses interesting.

So maybe these are tautophrases, then??

Willam Safire, in his New York Times column, On Language: Tautophrases, specifically mentions the co-opted  and oft-mentioned Zen phrase It is what it is. At first I dismiss his categorization because he incorrectly assumes that the phrases is dismissive or evasive, which it isn't, when used by Zen practitioners.

Safire goes on to allow that tautophrase, as opposed to a tautology can be used for emphasis. I think in Zen we use it for emphasis but also to point out that seeking intellectual meaning is often pointless when dealing with concepts which are beyond rational thought. 

If you're a language geek, like I obviously am, read the rest of Safire's article here.

Uchiyama Roshi uses tons of these phrases, some of them cribbed from Dogen Zenji or his teacher Sawaki Roshi, known more commonly as Homeless Kodo. 

Here's a few I like:

Zazen is doing Zazen.

Self doing itself by itself

Self making the self out of the self

Self that is is only self

I recommend reading Uchiyama Roshi's book Opening the Hand of Thought, if you haven't. I'll post a full review when I have finished it. 

I'm also going to finally finish reading Ponlop's Rebel Buddha soon, I swear. :P

Gassho.

Grasping Sucks

So...umm yeah.

I'm driven insane on daily basis.

It seems like everything sucks.

My job is overwhelming:

I can do the work and I like the people I work with, both our customers and my co-workers. There's just a larger volume of work than I can handle.

My wife is disinterested in me:

I'm never able to have her undivided attention. The phone makes sure there's always someone "in the room" with us, as she almost never puts it down.

I'm having difficulties securing funding for my medically necessary weight-loss program:

My insurance won't pay and there's no easy route to charitable support.

My car is dying:

It has an oil leak I can't find the source of and I just spent over $500 that wasn't in the budget to fix the brakes/rotors/struts.

But why does all this crap bother me??

It all has the same root cause: grasping. It's not like it should be. We create "ideal" fantasies about the way we want out life to be and ignore the awesome that surrounds us.

In just these situations, let's look at the awesome:

My job is overwhelming:

I have a job. That kind of, mostly pays our bills and I don't hate it. It's close to where I live and the benefits are good. The company isn't terrible and the people are great.

My wife is disinterested in me:

My wife has had a pinched nerve for the last week and before that we both had colds. We conquered the spectre of divorce and I know she loves me without a doubt. Sex (and physical affection in general) may not happen as often as I would like, but that doesn't mean it never happens.

I'm having difficulties securing funding for my medically necessary weight-loss program:

The intake Dr. who did all my blood-work and my physical evaluation wasn't worried about me finding a payment solution. She had lots of advice and general well wishes to offer.

My car is dying:

The brakes are fixed and that's done. My friend will probably help me track down the oil leak and fix it for cheap. 

In the final analysis. I just need to chill out and okay with what is. 

I suppose I just need a little Dude and a little less Walter.

Abide, Achievers.

Buddhism: It's All About the Lists, Baby.

My Sangha-mate, David compiled this List of Lists. Most of this is from Wikipedia. He told me that he claims no ownership of the text so, I'm guessing little, if any, of it is his text.

Buddhists really are crazy about lists. I think this might have come about during the early days before the first Sangha Council, when the Triptaka began to be standardized and written down. It's easier to remember lists then long passages without any delineation, I suppose.

Feel free to add to this or point out any omissions. I'll forward those back to David.

So without further adieu:

The Four Noble Truths

1. The Nature of Suffering (or Dukkha): "This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering." Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
2. Suffering's Origin (Dukkha Samudaya): "This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.” Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.]
3. Suffering's Cessation (Dukkha Nirodha): "This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it." Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
4. The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: (Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga): "This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."

Noble Eightfold Path

Division	Eightfold Path factors
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)	1. Right view
	2. Right intention
Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)	3. Right speech
	4. Right action
	5. Right livelihood
Concentration (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)	6. Right effort
	7. Right mindfulness
	8. Right concentration

The Six Paramitas (Perfections)
1) The Perfection of Generosity (Dana Paramita)
2) The Perfection of Ethics (Sila Paramita)
3) The Perfection of Patience (Kshanti Paramita)
4) The Perfection of Joyous Effort / Enthusiastic Perseverance (Virya Paramita)
5) The Perfection of Concentration (Dhyana Paramita
6) The Perfection of Wisdom (Prajna Paramita)

The Twelve Nidānas (chain of causation)
ignorance Avidyā (Sanskrit) or Avijjā (Pāli)
(mental) formations Saṃskāra (Sanskrit) or Saṅkhāra (Pāli)
consciousness Vijñāna (Sanskrit) or Viññāna (Pāli)
name and form Nāmarūpa (Sanskrit and Pāli)
six sense gates Ṣaḍāyatana (Sanskrit) or Saḷāyatana (Pāli)
contact Sparśa (Sanskrit) or Phassa (Pāli)
sensation Vedanā (Sanskrit and Pāli)
"craving" or "desire" or "thirst" Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit) or Taṇhā (Pāli)
attachment Upādāna (Sanskrit and Pāli)
becoming Bhava (Sanskrit and Pāli)
birth Jāti (Sanskrit and Pāli)
aging (old age), decay and death Jarā-maraṇa (Sanskrit and Pāli)

Three Marks of Existence
impermanence (anicca)
suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha)
not-self (anattā)

The 5 Skandhas (aggregates)

1. form or matter (Skt., Pāli rūpa)
2. sensation or feeling (Skt., Pāli vedanā)
3. perception, conception, apperception, cognition, or discrimination (Skt. samjñā, Pāli saññā)
4. mental formations, impulses, volition, or compositional factors (Skt. samskāra, Pāli saṅkhāra)
5. consciousness or discernment (Skt. vijñāna, Pāli viññāṇa)

Three Poisons- the mūla kleśa (English: root poisons) of the Twelve Nidānas are:
ignorance (Sanskrit: Avidyā)
attachment (Sanskrit: Upādāna)
craving (Sanskrit: Tṛṣṇā)

The Five Hindrances

1. Sensual desire (kāmacchanda): Craving for pleasure to the senses.
2. Anger or ill-will (byāpāda, vyāpāda): Feelings of malice directed toward others.
3. Sloth-torpor or boredom (thīna-middha): Half-hearted action with little or no concentration.
4. Restlessness-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): The inability to calm the mind.